Daughter of Dark Magic and Constant Danger
by Gabriel Tannin
Summary: After Voldemort's return, Cadence and her family are forced to leave their country home in hopes of escaping the Death Eaters that hunt them. Staying safe proves to be difficult as Cadence, the daughter of the Dark Lord, is in constant danger. Part 7 DODM
1. Nightmares

_Pain shot through my entire body causing me to scream in agony as I squirmed and withered on the grass before Voldemort's feet. He pulled his wand away, giving me only a moment to catch my breath, before he yelled the torture curse again that sent me reeling in red hot pain. _

_Just make it stop….I thought. Just let it all be over and stop. _

"_You want this to end, Kieran?" Voldemort hissed at me once he pulled his wand away. I gasped for breath as my eyes clenched shut, tears leaking out of them and down my cheeks. "You could have ended it so many times in the past. You deserve this pain." _

_I screamed out as he kicked me and cast the spell on me again. Needles, fire hot and dipped in poison, felt like they were poking every spot on my skin. I rolled and convulsed as my body bent and twitched. My bones were being crushed…my blood was made to boil…I was being tortured into insanity._


	2. Benjamin Snow

My eyes opened and I stared up at the ceiling of my bedroom. For a few moments, I was confused and lost. I took slow breaths as I regained my composure and realized I was in my own bed, staring at my own ceiling in the morning light. I pushed the sheets off my body and stood up instantly, then stretched for a moment before making my way across the cold wood floor in my bare feet. I weaved between stacked cardboard boxes that contained my personal belongings. I paused for a moment to look at my reflection in the mirror that hung on the back of the bedroom door.

I looked tanned and well toned. It had been two months since I had been taken captive by my Father and nearly starved to death. In the beginning of June I looked like an anorexic supermodel, now in early July, I was back to my toned, curvy figure like before. I pushed my brown curly hair over my shoulder and the gleaming silver wedding band on my right hand caught my attention. I smiled slightly at it and then turned away from the mirror to open the bedroom door.

In the kitchen, I found Gabriel Quintin sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea and reading _The Daily Prophet_. I walked up behind him and kissed the back of his neck gently. He had completely shaved his head again, in preparation for the summer heat he said, but he kept the full beard on his handsome face. He turned his head to me, allowing me to kiss his lips from over his shoulder. His hand reached up and touched my hair gently, brushing through it.

"Good morning," he whispered as I pulled away from him and headed for the teapot on the stove. Again, I had to move around cardboard boxes.

"Good morning," I returned. I opened the cabinet over the stove in search of a glass mug, but found it empty. I had forgotten that we had packed up the kitchen the night before. I turned and opened the closest box to me, there were plates and bowls in it. The next box was full of silverware. And the next box was filled with cooking utensils.

"Where are the cups and mugs?"

"That box that is opened on the counter next to the stove," Gabriel said matter-of-factly from his chair. I gave him a dirty look as I turned to the box and pulled a mug out of it.

"Thanks," I muttered sarcastically as I poured my tea.

Gabriel watched me as I walked back to the table to sit next to him with my cup of tea in hand. His eyes were brilliant sea blue that morning, making me smile with pleasure. I loved looking into his eyes because they were always different. They allowed me to see a different Gabriel every time they changed. He was wearing a grey suit, with dark blue tie and white button up shirt. He looked stunningly handsome, as usual, despite his forty-four years.

"How did you sleep?" he asked.

I didn't answer right away which caused him to lean forward and study my expression more carefully.

"Another nightmare?"

I nodded. "Of Voldemort torturing me to death."

Gabriel reached out and stroked my cheek with his thumb. "It's just stress. It means nothing."

"It means I'm afraid my Father is going to kill me."

"That is nothing to be afraid of. He's been trying to kill you since you were fifteen."

I rolled my eyes because he had a point.

"Where is Carrigan?" I asked changing the subject.

"Outside," Gabriel motioned to the open back door. "Training, with Benjamin."

He said the boy's name with such distain that it caused me to frown. I looked out the door to see Benjamin standing in a fighting position, facing Carrigan, who was moving around him, her fist up in front of her, ready to strike. They were circling each other. Every time Carrigan made a pass at Benjamin, he blocked her and shoved her back. I could tell by Carrigan's posture and lack of technique that she was growing more frustrated. I looked at Gabriel.

"Don't be jealous that she doesn't train with you anymore," I said with an all-knowing smile.

"I am not jealous," Gabriel said quickly, even though I could see the truth in his eyes. "I just don't trust him."

"Carrigan trusts him."

"She doesn't know better."

"Did I know better when I trusted you and no one else did?"

"Dumbledore trusted me," Gabriel insisted. "Dumbledore doesn't even know who this kid is. Where the hell did this kid learn his magic!"

"Carrigan says he's self taught."

"That's bullshit," Gabriel said standing up from the table and throwing his paper down. I frowned at his obvious anger. "I don't even think he's a Guardian."

The thought had crossed my mind as well. Gabriel and I were so keen on Carrigan's Guardian arriving soon that we had forgotten to be skeptical of Benjamin. Now, a month since he arrived in our lives, we were starting to question his abilities as a Guardian. He and Carrigan had started training in mid-June, but Carrigan had yet to achieve any sort of improvement with her physical and telekinetic powers.

"If you don't trust him you shouldn't have told him he can stay here."

"What are we supposed to do, Cadence?" he questioned. "He saved Carrigan's life a month ago."

"I know," I whispered sadly, as I looked back out at the yard. Carrigan's fully-grown griffin, Hector, had joined the fight, thinking that Benjamin was hurting Carrigan. I smirked slightly as Carrigan pushed (barely really) Hector back away from Benjamin. Hector seemed to calm down as she patted the side of his neck and nuzzled her head against his ruffled feathers. Benjamin looked incredibly bothered. He came marching back across the yard heading for the house.

"I'm going to the Ministry," Gabriel said behind me. I turned in my chair and nodded as he moved to me. He bent down and kissed my lips gently. I took his right hand in mine and intertwined my fingers with his. I felt the cold silver of his wedding band press against my fingers, which caused me to smile against his lips. "I love you," he whispered.

"Good," I said pulling away. "Tell Scrimgeour I'll be in next week?"

"Alright," he nodded. "I'll see you for dinner."

"Be safe," I advised as he pulled away. He bowed his head to me and made his way out of the kitchen. As I turned back around in my chair, Benjamin entered the back door.

"Your daughter is intolerable," he said ruthlessly as he crossed the kitchen in three long strides. He reached into the cardboard box where the mugs were and pulled out a mug, then poured himself some tea.

"You have no idea," I said softly as I studied him. He and Carrigan must have been training for a long time because he was covered in sweat.

Benjamin Snow was an attractive young man. I wondered if being attractive was just part of being a Guardian. Was it their curse? They were handsome, charming and understanding individuals who were a collection of admirable characteristics that made them the perfect romantic partner, but they weren't allowed to fall in love with their chargers. Benjamin was muscular, from head to toe, with wide shoulders and a square jaw. He had recently shaved the sides of his head, and trimmed his hair so he had a neat short Mohawk. His crystal blue eyes were piercing like icicles, but not cold looking at all. Rather, his eyes were warm and welcoming. He had the ancient alchemy symbol for Saturn tattooed on his left forearm, and a long thin scar down the upper half of his right arm. I had never asked where the scar had come from, though I doubted he would tell me if I did.

"She has no sense of discipline," he said as he shook his head.

I smirked and sighed.

"I've tried to raise her right, Benjamin," I said. "What more do you want from me?"

"Nothing," he replied. "That is why I am here."

I nodded again as I looked out at Carrigan who was sitting on the ground with Hector now. I heard Benjamin move past me and head down the hall to the front of the house. Within a few moments, I heard his feet traveling upstairs, which caused me to frown slightly. He wasn't a very talkative character.

I stood up from my chair and exited the house. The early morning sun beamed down on me as I walked across the lawn in my white tank top and long black pajama pants. Carrigan looked up at me as I approach, but she looked away, frowning.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said as I sat down next to her and Hector in the grass. Hector's large golden eyes stared at me carefully, as if waiting to determine if I was a person who could be trusted.

"What do you think I want to talk about?" I asked my thirteen year old daughter.

"Training."

"Actually, I want to talk about Benjamin."

Carrigan sighed and rolled her eyes. "That's splitting hairs, Mom."

She pushed her long curly brown hair over her shoulder and leaned back against Hector's stomach. She closed her eyes, telling me that she really didn't want to talk to me. I didn't care though. I was going to talk to her about her Guardian because we had yet to talk about him in depth. We had yet to truly question him because I was trying to trust Carrigan, but I felt I couldn't do that anymore. I had to trust my own gut—and it was telling me to figure Benjamin Snow out.

"Why didn't he go to Hogwarts?"

Carrigan opened her eyelids and looked at me sharply with dark midnight blue eyes that matched her father's.

"He grew up in an orphanage," she whispered. "Ran away when he was thirteen to find out who his parents were."

"Doesn't answer the question," I said as I stroked Hector's feathers. "He would have received a letter when he was eleven whether he was in an orphanage or not."

"He did get a letter," Carrigan said admitted. "He just never went. He didn't know how to explain it to the women running the orphanage—he had no way of going there on his own and no one ever came for him."

"What?" I said puzzled. "Surely Dumbledore would have—"

"—Mom, it doesn't matter," Carrigan said interrupting me. "The point is he is still a very gifted wizard. I was surprised by how much magic he knew and I didn't believe his story at first. I was very skeptical—I thought perhaps Voldemort had sent him to trick me."

"What changed your mind?" I asked cautiously. I knew that this was a sensitive subject for Carrigan because she didn't like me questioning her ability to trust people.

"I read his mind," she whispered sadly. I could see that she was ashamed of what she had done, but she no doubt felt it was necessary. "And he has powers like us. I remember you saying that Guardians have the same powers as their students for a reason…I just knew that he wasn't a Death Eater. _I know he's my Guardian."_

"Just because you read his mind and he has powers like us doesn't mean you can trust him Carrigan."

"You sound like Gabriel."

"No," I said raising my hand to stop her from speaking. "Gabriel is worried Benjamin is going to steal your innocence—I'm worried that Benjamin is a Death Eater."

"He's seventeen! You know I'm not interested in being involved with anyone, let alone a seventeen year old! And don't you think I would know if he were a Death Eater or not!" Carrigan stammered sounding offended.

"Things aren't so black and white, Carrigan! I didn't know Penelope was a Death Eater—"

"That's you, Mom. You made that mistake—"

"Carrigan," Benjamin appeared behind me. I sat up straight and turned to see him as Carrigan stood up from the grass. He looked mildly apologetic about interrupting our conversation. His blue eyes looked between me and Carrigan with concern.

"Benjamin," I said quickly before another word could be said.

"_Mom!_" Carrigan hissed in warning.

"Forgive me," I said ignoring my daughter. "I need you to give me a reason to trust you."

Carrigan sighed loudly and slapped her hand to her forehead as she walked away from me, kicking up grass as she went. I didn't look at her, I was keeping my eyes on Benjamin to see his reaction, his moves, and maybe even his thoughts. He looked away form Carrigan for a moment and looked me straight in the eye.

"I understand, I wouldn't expect you to trust me considering your parentage," he whispered. "She has told you why she trusts me?"

I nodded and waited for him to continue.

"I don't know how I can prove my loyalties to you, Cadence," Benjamin said breathlessly. "But I can assure you if I am loyal to anyone it is to Carrigan."

Those words sounded so familiar—it had been what Gabriel had said to my Father when I was sixteen. He wasn't loyal to anyone but me.

"Who is your mother?"

"I don't know," he said easily.

"And you don't know who your Father is?"

"No," Benjamin shook his head sadly. "I have been looking for clues to who he is for the last two years, but I have not been able to find any. I know my surname is Snow, and a decade ago, a family with that same surname lived in the Muggle village down the road. I moved to it in hopes of finding out about my family, that's how I met Carrigan. I saw her and I knew that she was powerful, uncontrolled and about to burst. I thought I could help…"

He was looking at Carrigan now. I followed his blue eyed stared and looked at my daughter.

"How could you help?"

"I can teach her how to control her powers," he shrugged. "Through meditation, channeling and focus. I don't know who was working with her before but they're methods aren't helping."

"Don't let Gabriel hear you say that," I said.

"He's the one who was training me," Carrigan said

I rubbed my forehead with stress.

"You're only seventeen?" I asked turning to face Benjamin.

"Yes," he nodded once.

"When did you come into your active powers?"

"When I was nine."

"Who taught you how to master them?"

"No one," Benjamin shook his head. "It has always been natural. I quickly realized that my powers were tied to my emotions and mental stability. Only when I was calm, clear headed and focused could I completely control my energy. I didn't have anything distracting me from mastering them either. Carrigan's education and personal affairs are holding her back."

Carrigan shook her head as she turned on ugly glare on Benjamin. "Just because you are a loner doesn't mean I am—I love my friends and school is important to me."

"I'm sure you do and that it is, but your friends are not like you, Carrigan. And your education could be achieved easily from private studying. You pick up the thoughts of those close to you all the time for a reason. If it weren't for your emotional attachment to them you would only channel them when you desired. When you needed to."

"I will learn to control it better—and I will never _need_ to channel my friends. I trust them."

"You haven't been able to gain control of your telekinesis for months, what makes you think you're going to start now? The only thing you haven't tried is letting your friends go—"

"Stop it, Benjamin," Carrigan said ruthlessly. The shed, only a few hundred feet away, where Hector stayed at night, started to shake violently behind us in the distance. I sighed as I bit my lip. "I'm going for my run. You can come too but only if you keep your mouth shut."

Benjamin rolled his eyes and stepped to the side. He bowed and motioned for Carrigan to pass him towards the house. She did so, and marched with tense purpose all the way to the house. I gave Benjamin a weak smile as he looked at me.

"I don't know why I am drawn to her," he whispered. "I could just feel that she needed to learn control. She needs me as much as I need her."

"Why do you need her?" I asked as I stood up with lowered eyebrows.

"She's my only friend," he whispered sadly. "She's all I have."

I nodded my head very slowly as he made his way for the house. I stood still and watched as he approached Carrigan who was standing at the back door of the house waiting for him. They paused to stare at each other in the beautiful morning summer sun. Benjamin spoke first, I could only see his lips moving; it looked like he was apologizing. Carrigan nodded her head, appearing to accept the apology, and then turned on her heel and entered the house. Benjamin tilted his head back and looked up at the clear blue sky. He rolled his shoulders back before following after Carrigan.

After a few moments of standing in the yard by myself, I made my way back into the house. It was silent inside, which did not surprise me. Carrigan and Benjamin had no doubt gone out the front door as soon as they got inside. I moved straight through the kitchen and down the hall to the staircase upstairs. When I reached the second floor I disappeared into my office, which had not been packed into boxes yet.

I climbed up the ladder leaning against the bookshelf that made up the wall of my study and reached the top shelves looking for a book that I hardly ever pulled out. It seemed I had been using this book a great deal more in the recent years—ever since I had been pregnant a year ago. It was an old ragged book with a thick hard cover and yellowing aged pages. I wasn't sure how old it was, or even who had written it. Dumbledore had given it to me when I was pregnant with Carrigan before I left England to run from the prosecution of the Potters' murder. It was a book concerning the topic of Guardians.

Gabriel and I had met as a twist of fate. He had kidnapped me when I was fifteen under orders from my Father to train me to become a Death Eater. Once I was trained, after five months of being held captive in his home, he let me escape—forcing me to stab him in the stomach to make it look like I had fought my way free. I didn't realize it then, but Gabriel's feelings for me then may not have been love as we both thought they were. Perhaps Gabriel's feelings for me those first five months of our relationship were similar to the feelings Benjamin had for Carrigan. I had never heard of another Guardian and their charge—I was not sure if Carrigan would have one at all, let alone if it would be Gabriel or another person. But the way Benjamin spoke about Carrigan—he was only loyal to her and she was all he had—sounded just like Gabriel. It had mythical Guardianship written all over it.


	3. Abandon Home

"Mom?" Carrigan called through the house. I sat up from the leather couch in my study and looked around bewildered for a moment. I had fallen asleep with the book of Guardians wide open on my chest. I closed the book and slipped it under the couch so Carrigan wouldn't see it, then stood up straight off the couch. The study door opened, causing me to turn to it quickly, like a guilty child who had just been caught coloring on the walls.

"What are you doing up here?" Carrigan asked as she leaned into the room, her hand remaining on the doorknob. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail out of her red face. She looked warm to the touch, and sweaty, from her jog. I had no doubt in my mind that she had beat Benjamin home because she was annoyed with him.

"I was going to start packing," I said looking around the room. "We want to be out of here by the end of the week."

Carrigan nodded her head. "You're really making some head way," she said looking around the room and smirking. Of course, there weren't even cardboard boxes in the room, so she knew I was lying. "Have you figured out where we're moving to?"

"No," I whispered sadly. "Not yet. I think Gabriel is looking at flats in London today."

This comment caused Carrigan to frown.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"I just like living in the country. Where are Ben and I going to train if we live in a flat?"

"We'll just have to manage, Carrigan," I said. "In the first war, when your Father and I were together we lived in dumps most of the time. We even lived at Hogwarts for awhile because no where else was safe."

"Isn't this house protected by the Secret Keeper charm?"

"Yes," I whispered. "But Penelope knew where it was, and she knew it was under the charm. There are many ways to break those charms, Carrigan."

"Oh," she frowned. "Well, I guess I should start packing up my room."

"Yes, you should."

"What if we can't find a place big enough for all of our stuff?" she whispered.

"We'll find some place," I said easily. I hesitated for a moment before I asked my question. "Carrigan, why does Benjamin think you not returning to Hogwarts will help you control your powers?"

Carrigan sighed and stepped into the study. She closed the door tightly behind her and crossed her arms over her chest as he stared at me.

"He thinks that being at school, with my friends, leaves me unfocused," she said. "He thinks that because he learned to master his skills on his own then that's how everyone should do it."

I nodded my head slowly as I pulled books off the shelf and stacked them on my desk. I snapped my fingers and conjured some cardboard boxes. Carrigan sunk down into the leather couch as she sighed.

"He can be a jerk sometimes," she whispered. "Training and my powers is all he thinks about."

"That's his job," I replied. "Do you not like him anymore, now that you know he is your Guardian?"

Carrigan blinked and looked at me. "No," she said. "I don't like him anymore."

"Are you just saying that because you know it's forbidden?"

"Well it being forbidden means very little," she smirked. "Look at you and Gabriel. But, I'm not interested in Ben because he's harsher now. He's just not the same charming, flirty boy I met at the coffee shop. Voldemort's return has made him hard."

"War does that to people," I replied. "And as he is your Guardian, he is responsible for preparing you for this war. He pushes you because we don't know when the true fight will start and we all must be ready."

"I don't know," Carrigan shook her head. "Gabriel pushed me last summer and I liked training everyday. Benjamin…I don't know…it's harder with him."

"That's why he's your Guardian and Gabriel isn't," I said with a weak smile. "Benjamin is pushing your limits and is going to train you with powers that Gabriel couldn't."

Carrigan nodded. "I suppose…I don't like that my Guardian is a man," she said randomly. I paused for a moment, holding three books in my arms, to stare at her.

"Why?"

"I've never been reliant on a man for anything," she said mildly. "And now I have to be."

"You're not reliant on him," I said. "That is no the point of a Guardian. You learn everything you can from him and then you become a master of your own powers. If you fall in love with him, then your relationship as a student will become reliant. As two human beings capable of emotions, Gabriel and I love each other, but as a student and Guardian I am reliant on him…most of the time…because I did not master my own powers. You won't be like that, Carrigan. I know you won't."

She nodded her head slowly. "I'm going to shower and then start packing."

As Carrigan stood up there was a loud crashing sound from downstairs. We both looked at each other, frozen for a moment. I picked up my wand off my desk then quickly dashed from the study. I grabbed Carrigan's arm as we tore down the upstairs hallway.

"You stay here," I whispered sternly in her ear. She gave me a dirty look, which caused me to squeeze her arm more tightly. "Carrigan," I said her name with a warning tone.

"Fine," she hissed and stepped to the side, leaning against the hallway wall.

"Where is your wand?" I asked as another crashing sound erupted downstairs.

Carrigan blinked and her wand appeared in her hand. She crossed her arms over her chest and continued to glare at me as I moved forward down the hall. I was sure once I was down the stairs she would follow me, despite my directions.

I crept down the stairs slowly, looking out at the foyer with my wand extended. My eyes fell on the destroyed sitting room, across the foyer, when I reached the landing at the bottom of the stairs. I sighed with annoyance. Furniture was destroyed, and boxes that had been packed for the move were spilled all over the floor.

The sound of breaking wood and wrestling bodies drew my attention to the dinning room. I advanced into the sitting room and looked to the back of the house. There, on my dinning room table, Benjamin had a man pinned down. He slugged the intruder across the face, causing a loud cracking sound to echo in the room. He conjured a knife in his right hand and turned, swinging his hand far from his body, to stab a man who was sneaking up behind him from the kitchen. The knife sunk into the man's shoulder, and he released a loud cry of surprise. Benjamin pulled the knife from the man's shoulder and turned back to the man pinned to my table. He slammed the blade into the man's chest, straight through the heart, and then turned, slugging the other man in the face. The man fell over into the kitchen and I stepped forward.

"Benjamin," I warned.

He paused, taking long breaths as he looked at me. I stopped next to him and looked at the man lying, and bleeding, on my kitchen floor. He looked to be knocked unconscious. Benjamin packed quite a punch.

"Bloody hell!"

Benjamin and I both looked up at Carrigan, who was standing on the opposite side of the kitchen, looking at the man on the floor with overwhelmed eyes.

"Carrigan," I said harshly. "I told you to stay upstairs."

Carrigan gave me a weak shrug, but her eyes did not leave the bleeding man on the floor.

"Carrigan," I said her name to get her attention. She looked up at me slowly. "Go upstairs, write to Gabriel that we need him to come home right away. Go. Go now." She nodded her head and dashed from the kitchen. I turned to Benjamin. "Take him to the basement, I can't carry him. Then you're going to come back up here and clean up this bloody mess. When that is done, you and Carrigan have to pack everything you can carry. We have to leave the house by tonight."

Benjamin nodded his head, without a word, and bent low to pick the man up off the kitchen floor. He grabbed the intruder's arm and pulled it over his shoulder, then lifted the man up with a grunt, so the man was hanging over his back. I walked forward and opened the basement door for him. He descended the stairs slowly with me following.

In the basement, I light some candles with the blink of my eye.

"Where do you want him?" Benjamin asked looking around the sandpit of a basement. The walls were blank, and the floor was covered in sand for traction. I had made the basement into a training room, just like Gabriel had in his house.

I snapped my fingers and a chair appeared. Benjamin put the man down in the chair and looked at me.

"Thank you," I whispered. He bowed his head and moved past me. "Benjamin," I called him back for a moment. He paused at the base of the stairs and looked at me. "You did well. Please make sure that Carrigan is ready to go by the time I'm done. And when Gabriel gets here, tell him I'm in the basement."

"Alright," Benjamin said. He turned away and marched up the stairs. I looked to the man that was sitting, slouched and unconscious, in the chair before me. I lifted my wand and bound his hands to the arms of the wood chair, and his ankles to the legs of it. I tapped my wand against my hand as I debated how to go about this. It had been a long time since I had interrogated anyone.

I flicked my wand at the man, to wake him. He stirred for a moment. His head rolled from one shoulder to the other and slowly his eyes opened. He sat up straight and tried to move from the chair, but quickly realized he was tied to it. He looked up, straight at me with a venomous glare.

"Hi," I said as I stood before with my arms crossed over my chest.

He was a middle-aged man, average height and weight with black hair and a beard. His left ear was pierced with a small diamond earring. I stepped forward and pushed up the sleeves of his shirt. On his left arm, I found exactly what I was looking for. A darkly inked skull with a snake running out of it's mouth. The Dark Mark.

"It's only fair you show me yours, Princess," he hissed close to my ear. I stepped back and slugged him across the face without hesitation. I didn't care for that nickname in the least bit.

"Don't call me that. You can already see mine," I said holding up my arm where a long white scar resided from my wrist to the inside of my elbow. It was results of a blood bond my Father had performed on me when I was sixteen. "Who are you?"

"Oh, we're getting serious fast," he said. I slapped him, causing him to grunt with discomfort. "Usually, I ask a girl to buy me dinner before she smacks me around a bit."

I rolled my eyes. "Who are you?"

"Does it matter?"

"You're right," I responded. "It doesn't. Why did my Father send you?"

"He just wants what is his," he retorted sharply.

I nodded my head slowly. "His blood?"

"He's not interested in you, anymore, Princess—" I slugged him in the face again, breaking his nose.

"Bitch!" he hissed as blood surged from his nose and down his face.

"I told you not to call me 'princess.'"

The man glared at me with dark brown eyes. "I'm not going to talk."

"No," I smirked. "I think I'm going to make you scream."

I conjured a dagger and stabbed his good shoulder without a second thought. The man released a yell of agony and anger.

"Your Father would be proud."

"No," I retorted. "He wouldn't. And I'm not really interested in making my Father proud. Tell me what he thinks is his."

The basement door opened, and quickly footsteps descended the stairs. Gabriel appeared in the basement in his grey suit, looking concerned. His eyes moved between me and the Death Eater in the chair. He studied the man carefully as he approached me.

"There's no point," he said to me with his eyes still on the Death Eater. "Your Father wouldn't entrust anything with him. He's just a messenger fulfilling orders."

"Gabriel Quintin," the Death Eater said with a bow of his head. "It is good to see you again, you bastard."

"Shut up, Hekley," Gabriel retorted harshly. "I'll take care of it."

"No," I responded, knowing that Gabriel meant he was going to kill Hekley. "Send him back to my Father. He is a messenger after all. We should use him to send a message."

Gabriel frowned but nodded his head. He took the dagger from my hand. "As you wish."

I nodded my head once and moved away form him, heading for the stairs. I marched straight up them and didn't look back as Hekley's screams could be heard behind me. I closed the basement door tightly and moved through the house to the second floor. I knocked on Carrigan's bedroom door and opened it without waiting for a reply from her. She was standing over her trunk, filling it with her clothing. She looked up at me.

"I don't know what I can leave behind," she whispered standing up looking flustered. "I've packed all of my school things—but I like all of my clothes—"

"Just pack what will fit," I said as I approached her. I touched her wet hair softly, she must have taken a quick shower after writing to Gabriel. "We'll go to your Father's house until I can find a safer place for us. Gabriel and I will come back tonight for anything else that we can't get now. We just need to leave soon, Carrigan."

Carrigan nodded her head, but I could see in her midnight blue eyes that she was scared. I lifted her chin to look me in the eye. She frowned, so I pulled her into my arms for a hug.

"It's just real," she whispered. "I've been wanting to fight for so long, but now…it's real and I don't know if I can."

"Of course you can," I said. "You're an excellent witch. You're powerful, strong and smart. You will be more then able to fight, Carrigan. It's just as real now as it was then."

She nodded her head and pulled out of my arms.

"What were you doing to that man in the basement?"

"Asking him questions."

"So, torturing him?"

"No," I whispered carefully. "Just…persuading him to answer me…" I cringed because it was a horrible way of twisting the truth.

"Just call it what it is, Mom," Carrigan said.

I sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to keep you safe."

Carrigan nodded her head, but didn't look me in the eye. "I'll be ready in a few minutes."

"Alright," I said understanding that she no longer wanted to discuss the issue with me. I turned on my heel and exited the bedroom. I closed the door tightly behind me. Benjamin was stepping out of the bathroom, heading for the guest room where he had been staying. He looked clean, freshly showered, and blood free. He paused to look at me.

"How is our girl doing?" he asked.

"I don't know how to read her anymore," I replied with a weak smile. "She's reached that age that even I can't tell what she's thinking or feeling."

"She knows what you're thinking and feeling though."

"Yea," I said with a smile. "That's really not fair."

"My bag is packed."

"Will you see if Carrigan needs help with anything else?" I asked as I opened my study door. "I'm going to finish packing, then we'll head out."

"Gabriel is…?"

"He's in the basement," I replied to Benjamin's incomplete question. He nodded his head and turned, disappearing into his bedroom. I went into the study and looked under the couch for the book on Guardians. I pulled it out from under and stood up straight with it, then exited the study. I went into the bedroom and threw it into the trunk that sat at the foot of my bed. I then proceeded to pack my clothing into the trunk.

Fifteen minutes after I started packing, Gabriel came into the bedroom. His suit coat was removed, and waist coat unbuttoned. His shirt and hands had bloodstains on them. I frowned slightly as I looked him over. He gave me a weak smile and came to me.

"Are you alright?"

"Of course," I said. "Benjamin took good care of them before I could even get downstairs. What did you do to Hekley?"

"Your Father will be receiving a message," he whispered. "That we don't plan on bowing down to him. And that we are very protective of Carrigan."

I smiled lightly. "Thank you."

Gabriel nodded. "Where do you plan on going?"

"Grimmauld place," I responded. "We can stay there until we find a place of our own."

"Alright, but we can't travel by fire. Your Father will send more Death Eaters back. We should probably clear everything out that we want and burn the place ourselves. We don't want to leave anything behind that they can trace."

I frowned deeply.

"We can't take everything with us to Grimmauld place. We don't have a place to send all of our things."

"Only take what we need," he shrugged. "You go to Grimmauld place with Carrigan and Benjamin. I will stay here and take care of the house."

"But—"

"It has to be done, Cadence," he said sternly. I sighed with aggravation and turned on my heel, pacing away from him.

"I thought I was done living on the run," I said angrily.

"I'll send the boxes we have packed to your old house in Maine," he said. "You didn't sell it, right?"

"I still own it," I said. "Like Dumbledore said."

"Alright," Gabriel said. "That's where we'll send the stuff until we can find a place of our own. I'll pack up the bedrooms and the study. We don't need anything else, right?"

"No."

Gabriel went to the bedroom door and opened it.

"Carrigan!" he shouted down the hall.

A moment later she appeared in the doorframe of our bedroom.

"Go send Hector to Hogwarts," Gabriel said quickly. "There won't be room for him at your Father's."

Carrigan nodded and turned without question to go downstairs. Gabriel came back to me, giving me a smile. My heart skipped a beat as he looked at me. No matter the situation, Gabriel could always lift my spirits with his charming smiles. His hands touched my hips before he leaned down and kissed my lips.

"Are you going to change out of your pajamas before you go?"

I smiled against his lips. "Yes," I said as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. There was a gentle knock on the open bedroom door that caused Gabriel and I to pull away from each other.

"Cadence," Benjamin said. "Carrigan and I are ready."

"Alright. I just have to change, then we'll go."

Benjamin nodded and left the doorframe. I looked up at Gabriel with a sad smile. He brushed my messy brown curls behind my ears.

"All will be well. We're just moving a little sooner then planned."

"We shouldn't have waited this long," I said. "We should have gone as soon as Carrigan was attacked in that village a month ago."

Gabriel frowned, knowing that I was right.

"Get changed. I'll pack a bag of my stuff for you to take."

I nodded in silence and turned away, heading to the closet, where I stripped naked to change into some travel clothing. I pull on a tight pair of skinny blue jeans and a white long sleeve shirt. I put a black vest on over the shirt and found a long sleeveless cloak to match. Once I was dressed, I pulled on black leather boots that went to the middle of my shins, then exited the closet.

Gabriel had packed his bag from the clothing he kept in the dresser on the opposite side of the room. The bag was sitting on my trunk, and Gabriel was no longer in the bedroom. I picked up the bag and the trunk and dragged it from the room.

Downstairs, Gabriel was standing in the foyer with Carrigan and Benjamin. My daughter was tightly wrapped in Gabriel's arms, as if this was the last time they were ever going to see each other. Benjamin stepped forward to help me with the trunk, which I thanked him for.

"We'll Apparate from the porch," I said. Carrigan whispered another good-bye to Gabriel before breaking from his arms. She picked up her bag and slung it on her shoulder before grabbing the handle of her trunk and making her way outside. Benjamin took his bag and my trunk, leaving me to carry Gabriel's bag. I put the strap of the bag over my head, so it laid across my chest as the bag rested on my hip.

Gabriel pulled me tightly into his arms and kissed me firmly on the lips. I kissed him slowly in return.

"I'll be along tonight," he whispered. "Don't worry."

"I won't," I replied. "We'll be fine."

Gabriel nodded and stole a kiss from my lips again.

"Be safe."

"Always am," I smirked. He bowed his head and slapped my butt playfully, telling me to get on my way. I broke free of him and stepped out the front door onto the porch. Gabriel waited in the doorframe to watch us Disapparate.

I motioned for Carrigan to come close to me, then I wrapped my arms around her. Benjamin stood on the other side of me and put his hands on my shoulder, each of them holding a trunk in one hand as they held onto me.

"We're going to have to Apparate onto the porch at Grimmauld place. So get close and try to hold your balance," I said. I looked at Carrigan who nodded her head in understanding. I turned to look at Benjamin.

"Alright," he replied.

"Okay," I said taking a deep breath. I hated Apparating, let alone Apparating two other people with me. "Let's go."

I concentrated with all my might on Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, and hoped that when we arrived, Sirius Black could forgive us for calling unexpectedly.


	4. Carrigan's Trauma

"I'm happy you came," Sirius said with a wide grin as he placed a cup of tea in front of me at the kitchen table. He looked handsome and well. The last time I had seen him was a month ago, when he still looked underfed from being on the run. Since then, he had taken up residency in his parent's old home and offered it to Dumbledore as Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. His hair was still messy and long, but his beard and mustache were well kept. His navy blue eyes were bright with life. Overall, he looked healthier and happier.

I sighed and thanked him as he moved away to get some bread from the pantry. "I was starting to worry about you and Carrigan."

"Why?" I asked quietly.

"You're my family," he replied, as if I should have known that is why he would worry. "I was wondering when you and Gabriel were going to move out of that house. I was surprised you waited this long."

"We should have left sooner," I admitted. "I don't know what we were waiting for."

Sirius shrugged as he sat down next to me with the plate of bread in one hand, and a plate of butter and a knife in the other. "You were waiting to find a place to stay."

"We should have left the day she was attacked, when Benjamin first showed up."

"You and Gabriel seriously trust that slimy bastard?"

"I trust Carrigan and the Guardianship bond," I whispered before taking another sip of tea. Sirius cut himself a piece of bread and began to butter it as he listened to me. "If Benjamin truly is her Guardian, then she is his first student. Guardians are neutral parties and take on the side of their first student. They are loyal only to their students."

"But what if he isn't really her Guardian?"

"Then it is very possible that I let a Death Eater into our house, close to our daughter and into headquarters," I said matter-of-factly.

Sirius frowned. "Where is she now?"

"Getting situated in her room," I replied as I set the cup of tea down in front of me. Sirius pushed the bread and butter to me. I thanked him as I started to cut a slice of bread for myself and then began to butter it.

"Is Benjamin interested in Carrigan the way Gabriel was interested in you?"

I stopped buttering my bread and looked up at Sirius with a very cold stare.

"Not that I can tell," I replied. "Why does it matter?"

"Because, I don't think Carrigan should be messing around with a guy his age. She's only thirteen."

I laughed lightly. "I don't think that's anything we have to worry about. Carrigan has made it quite clear to me that she is not interested in dating anyone. I'm not quite sure why, but she forced me to put an age restriction on her when she was eleven. She's not allowed to date until she's sixteen."

Sirius smiled. "She's a smart girl."

"I don't know," I frowned. "I'm afraid that the eleven years of her life that I spent icy-hearted and alone have taught her that she should be that way as well. I don't want that for her. If she has feelings for someone, she should follow those feelings."

"As long as those feelings aren't for Benjamin Snow, I'm fine."

I rolled my eyes. "You're such a man."

"You mean, I'm such a father."

"Whatever," I shook my head with a smile. Silence fell between us and I took a slow breath. It was time to become serious. "Have we made any head-way with what the weapon is that my Father is looking for?"

"No," Sirius shook his head. "We're having a meeting tomorrow night. We have to figure out where the weapon is being kept in the Ministry."

"How can we protect something when we don't know what it is?"

"If we know where it is, we'll know what part of the Ministry we have to protect."

I frowned deeply and nodded. It still didn't sound like a good plan. I wished I could have a connection to my Father to figure out what he wanted the weapon for, but it had appeared since his resurrection in the graveyard two months ago that he had severed all ties to our connection. He was very aware of his emotions and saw to it that I did not pick up anything psychically. He knew that our connection would be his weakness; he was making sure he didn't exploit that weakness.

"When do you go back to work?" Sirius asked.

I blinked and frowned at him.

"Next week," I replied sorely, mostly because I didn't want to go back to work. "Although, I'd rather not. Dumbledore has agreed that I should stay on with Scott to see where his loyalties lie."

"What does Scrimgeour think?"

"He believes that Voldemort has returned. But he will not join any group that is against the Ministry. It's good to have him on our side though…"

"Do you trust him?"

I hesitated. "I trust him to put the department and the Ministry before our needs. He is loyal to the interests of the Ministry, not to who sits in the Minister's office."

Sirius nodded his head as he ran his hands threw his beard.

"And Gabriel's new partner?"

"I don't know," I sighed with a weak smile because I felt bad for calling Gabriel home early. "He was supposed to meet them today, but I pulled him from work early because of the attack. He'll probably meet them tomorrow."

"Mom?" questioned Carrigan's unsure voice.

Sirius and I both turned in our chairs to face the staircase that led down into the basement kitchen. Carrigan appeared at the base of the stairs and looked around curiously with raised eyebrows and her arms crossed over her chest as if she were cold.

"Carrigan!" Sirius said excitedly. He jumped up and opened his arms. Carrigan beamed at her father and moved into his arms, embracing him tightly. Sirius had been in the kitchen when we arrived; Remus Lupin had let us into the house as he was preparing to leave. He welcomed us in and told us where the extra bedrooms were upstairs. Carrigan and Benjamin had taken our things upstairs to get settled, and I came downstairs to greet Sirius.

Sirius kissed his daughter's head as she clung to him. He looked at me with raised eyebrows because she remained in his arms for a long period. He rubbed her back and took a step back to look her in the eye. He lifted her chin and frowned at the sad expression on her face.

"Carrigan," he said her name tenderly. "What is it?"

"Nothing," she whispered. "I'm just tired."

I could see she was lying, but I did not call her out on it. She would tell us what was on her mind when she was ready.

"Are you hungry at all?" Sirius motioned to the bread. "Or do you want some tea?"

"No, thank you," she said politely. I studied Carrigan as she stood next to me in her jean shorts and red pull over. Her body was tense and blue eyes wide open. She was just as bad of a liar as I was. She was not in the least bit tired. "You know Dad, I still haven't changed my mind about that tattoo." She smiled slyly as she peered at Sirius with perfectly matching blue eyes.

"We agreed to wait until you were fifteen," Sirius said looking up at her as he took his seat.

"I would like to propose an alteration to the original terms of our agreement," Carrigan said confidently. Sirius smiled and motioned for her to take a seat across from him, on my right side. She moved easily around the table and took a seat across from her father.

"Proceed," he said with a smile. Carrigan sat up straight as she folded her arms on the table.

"I would like to propose a shortening to the waiting period."

"How much of a shortening?"

"I would like to get the tattoo for Christmas this year," Carrigan said boldly without hesitation. "Under the current agreement I have to keep the same tattoo design for more then a year, but if I change my mind I only have to wait a year from the time I changed my mind until I get the tattoo. So, does it seem fair to propose that if I still want the spear-and-snake tattoo design come Christmas, that I be allowed to get it at the end of the year as a Christmas gift?"

Sirius considered the question and stroked his beard as he thought. He glanced at me, to see what I was thinking, but I wasn't thinking anything. I was studying Carrigan very closely, trying to figure out what was bothering her so much that she would reconsidered the terms of the agreement she had previously made with Sirius.

"I think if you still want the same design come Christmas that we should wait until your fourteenth birthday, as opposed to your fifteenth," Sirius said as he looked at Carrigan. "Does that seem like a fair negotiation? Take a year off of the original agreement?"

Carrigan tapped her fingers against the table as she thought about it.

"Alright," she bowed her head. "But I know I'm not going to change my mind."

"So, April next year then. We'll get it when you come home for Easter. Cadence, does that seem alright with you?"

"Yes," I replied. "Is there something else on your mind, Carrigan?"

She looked at me quickly.

"No," was all she said. Then she stood up left the table. "Benjamin is calling me."

"What?" Sirius looked confused.

Carrigan released an exasperated sigh at the base of the staircase.

"He's calling me with Legilimency," she said with a touch of aggravation on her tongue. "He insists on communicating that way to strengthen my skills. He wants me to put up my Occlumency walls _all the time_." She turned and looked up the staircase. "I'M COMING!" she shouted loudly with anger.

There was a loud high-pitched scream from upstairs that caused me to jump. Sirius sighed and stood up from the table as he moved to the staircase. The screams could be heard echoing through the entire house.

"—_BLOOD TRAITOR—NO SON OF MINE—MUDBLOOD FOOLS_—"

_Must be Sirius' Mother_, I thought with half a smile before sipping my tea.

"You should avoid yelling in the house, Carrigan," he said as he affectionately patted her shoulder. "You just woke the portrait of my Mother."

Carrigan frowned deeply. "Sorry," she apologized. "Ben just drives me absolutely crazy."

"Come on," Sirius said. "I'll go straighten him out."

Carrigan smiled. "That's not really necessary, Dad." But there was pleasure in her voice. She certainly appreciated his offer. I watched as they both disappeared up the staircase towards the first floor of the house. I turned and finished eating my bread before looking up at the clock that hung on the wall. It was almost six o'clock. I thought Gabriel would have been along by now. I frowned and ran my hands through my hair, trying not to worry about him. Someone could be heard descending the stairs, and when I turned to look over my shoulder, I was surprised to see Molly Weasley appear with her daughter, Ginny, and Hermione Granger in tow. I stood up from my chair to greet them.

"Cadence!" Molly said with shock. "I wasn't expecting you tonight!"

She put down the bags of groceries she was carrying and hugged me tightly, which I was not expecting. I patted her back awkwardly and tried to relax in her arms.

"Yes, we were forced out of the house today," I whispered pulling away from her. She gave me a sad look, as if apologizing for our trouble.

"What happened?" Ginny asked as she carried her bags around the table and set them down, along with Hermione.

"Nothing to worry about," I said with a forced smile. I was sure that Molly would not forgive me for saying that Death Eaters attacked us in the house and Benjamin ruthlessly killed one, before we tortured the other.

"Is Carrigan upstairs?"

"Yes, with Sirius and Benjamin."

"Benjamin?" Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Who's he?"

"A friend," I lied very carefully. Guardians were seen as mythical beings, and very rarely were they believed to be real. I knew that they were real, but I didn't want Carrigan to be judged for believing in such things. I knew someone as logical as Hermione would be skeptical of Guardians.

"Oh, let's go meet him," Ginny said with a smile and taking Hermione's arm.

"I'll need your help with dinner, girls."

"Yes," I insisted. "I was afraid for a moment that I might have to cook dinner. If that were the case, I'd accidentally burn the house down."

Molly laughed hard, causing her bobbing head of red hair to shake. Her rosy cheeks and happy demeanor brought a smile to my face. It was her positive attitude that would help us get through these hard times.

"We'll be back in a moment," Ginny said dragging Hermione, who looked rather reluctant, to the staircase. The two girls disappeared quickly up to the first floor, leaving Molly and I alone.

"What happened?" Molly asked once the girls were gone. I hesitated for a moment.

"Two Death Eaters attacked us," I sighed. "Carrigan and I were upstairs, by the time I got downstairs, Benjamin had killed one. The other was knocked unconscious."

"I worry about Carrigan being exposed to so much violence," Molly said shaking her head as she moved away from the table to put some of the groceries away. I frowned deeply. I didn't think Molly had meant to insult my ability to parent my child, but that is how the comment came off. At this point what was I supposed to do?

"Those Death Eaters were coming for her," I said. "It's better that she knows how to protect herself. Since she is not of age to be able to protect herself with a wand, it is better that she can physically win a fight. Besides, her physical magic requires physical training. If she can control her body, mind and emotions she'll be able to control her magic."

Molly frowned as she came back to the table. "I didn't mean to offend you, Cadence," she said softly. I bowed my head.

"It's alright," I said standing up. "I know you didn't."

I turned on my heel and left the basement kitchen. I didn't want to be around Molly anymore in fear that I'd lose my temper and yell, scream, or make the house shake. It was difficult for people to understand why I parented Carrigan the way I did. Many people judged the way I raised her, but the fact of the matter was they didn't know her situation. They didn't know _our _situation. They didn't know that Carrigan had enough physical energy pent up inside of her that if she lost control she'd easily destroy an entire city block with the blink of an eye. Most people didn't realize that physical powers were even possible in witches or wizards. They didn't know that Carrigan was so powerful she needed a Guardian, a personal teacher, to guide and train her. They didn't know or understand.

I ran into Sirius on the second floor of the house. I was about to go up the next set of stairs, but he blocked me as he came down them.

"Where are you heading?"

"To my room," I whispered. "To unpack."

"What's wrong?"

Why was it that Sirius could tell when something was bothering me _now_, but when we were together he never thought anything was wrong?

"Walk with me," I motioned for him to follow as I moved up the stairs. Sirius heeded and followed me up the stairs until we reached the third floor. I moved down the narrow hallway and disappeared into the guest bedroom he had assigned me. As the Weasley family, Hermione and my family were all staying in the house, Sirius had organized and assigned us room. He graciously gave Gabriel and me one of the largest rooms in the house, just down the hall from his.

Once we were in the bedroom, I closed the door tightly behind me. Sirius looked around with a sad dry expression. There wasn't much to the bedroom, only a bureau and large king sized bed. It didn't bother me. I could live with just a bed if I had to. After all, I spent the years after leaving Hogwarts until I moved to Maine living in empty or run-down flats. The king size bed was luxury enough.

"What's the matter that we have to talk in private?" he asked.

"Nothing," I whispered. "Molly just told me she's worried about Carrigan being exposed to violence."

"I'm worried about it too," Sirius said honestly.

I gave him the dirties look I could muster and I rolled my eyes. Of course, Sirius would agree. He hated what Gabriel had taught me; and he hated what Gabriel taught Carrigan. Why was I surprised?

"Sirius, it's the only way to protect her," I retorted defensively.

"I know," he said with a bow of his head. "You turned out fine, so I trust the process…but I'm still worried about what she's seen. She's seen bad, violent, bloody things and she's only thirteen. That has to have an effect on her."

"Only if she lets it," I hissed.

"Only if she lets it?" he repeated like I was crazy. "Cadence, two months ago she found you lying outside the gates of Hogwarts covered in blood, skinner then an anorexic whore, and nearly dead. Then a month ago she got into a physical fight with three Death Eaters where her 'guardian' killed them in front of her. And today she saw a corpse bleeding on your dinning room table and heard you torture the other—"

"She told you this?" I interrupted.

"Yes," Sirius frowned. "That's why she's upset. She's terrified that she'll have to kill people. She doesn't want that."

"I didn't want to kill people either! She has to learn that if the fight comes down to her life of theirs she's going to have to make a choice."

"She doesn't want to be put into a situation where she has to make that choice."

"So, what?" I stammered. "She wants someone like Benjamin around for the rest of her life to protect her?_ I know she doesn't want that_. She hates the fact that her Guardian is a man. She wants to be able to protect herself."

"I don't know if she wants that anymore."

I frowned deeply. What had happened to Carrigan? In the last two years she had been begging Gabriel and I to start training her. Last summer she had trained everyday, exercising for hours, and possibly ruining her childhood because she was so focused on learning to master her skills. What had caused her to hate it now? To not want to fight?

I sat down on the bed and stared up at Sirius.

"What changed?"

"You almost died," he said without hesitation.

"She told you that's what it is?"

"She doesn't have to."

I shook my head and rubbed up and down my thighs. "How do I make it better?" I asked while biting my bottom lip.

"I don't know," Sirius said sitting down on the bed next to me. He took my hand and squeezed it tightly. "We'll keep her safe and we'll make it right."

I nodded as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my forehead.

"She's still learning," Sirius continued. "This is just something she has to learn."

"I want to kill him."

"Who?"

"My Father," I hissed. "I want to kill him with my bare hands for creating this stupid war. He's a cowardly bastard—and I won't stop until he's dead. I'm not going to run like last time, Sirius. I'm going to meet him head on and destroy him for creating a world where our daughter isn't safe."

Sirius gave me a tired smile. "I know. Hell help the man who ever breaks Carrigan's heart. You'll hunt him down like a wild dog."

I smirked and laid my head on his shoulder as he rubbed my back. "If you and Gabriel don't beat me to it."

Sirius laughed a full-hearted, bark-like, laugh that warmed my heart. Despite the world falling to pieces around us, I knew all would be well. Somehow, our family would make it through this—Carrigan's trauma, the war, everything. We would survive through everything.


	5. A Man In Pain

We were starting to finish up dinner that evening and Gabriel still hadn't arrived at Number Twelve. It was causing me a great deal of anxiety. It should not have taken him this long to get everything sent off. Most of the stuff in the house was already packed and he no doubt would have used magic to pack the rest of the things.

After the kitchen had been cleaned, and the children returned upstairs, I sat around the table with Molly and Arthur Weasley, Sirius and Remus. I was tapping the table uneasily as Remus poured fire whiskey for himself, Sirius and Arthur. Molly had gotten herself some tea.

"Cadence?"

I looked up at Remus with bewilderment. "Yes?"

"Would you like some whiskey?"

"Yes," I nodded. As Remus poured me the shot of whiskey, I glanced at the clock on the wall across the kitchen.

"I'm sure he's fine," Sirius said easily while watching me. "He's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

"Cadence," Remus said my name, motioning to the shot in front of me. I picked it up and took the hit easily. I squinted my eyes once it was down. The hot fiery taste burned all the way down my throat and into my stomach. I flipped my shot glass over and placed it lightly on table.

"And yet about two years ago, you somehow got the slip on him," I whispered. "You managed to beat him to a pulp and knock him unconscious."

"Well, I am a surprising person," Sirius retorted before taking his shot. He looked to Remus and lifted his empty shot glass. Remus leaned across the table, pushing the bottle of fire whiskey to Sirius. I flipped my glass and pushed it to Sirius, who poured me another shot.

"Try not to worry, Cadence," Molly said as she took her seat next to her husband. Her tea was stemming in front of her. "I'm sure Gabriel is just being thorough with your things. He wants to make sure you have everything for your new home when you find it."

"Thanks, Molly," I whispered. I took the shot that Sirius had poured me with out question. I felt everyone's eyes on me, which made my skin crawl with discomfort. I put the shot glass down again and wiped my lips on the back of my hand. "What time is the meeting tomorrow night?"

"Five o'clock," Arthur responded. "We'll have to make sure the children stay upstairs. And that Fred and George don't use those clever ease-dropping strings they created."

"They created non-sense," Molly muttered with a shake of her head as she stood up. Sirius had poured two more shots of whiskey, one for him and one for me. Molly picked up the bottle of fire whiskey and moved away from the table to put it away.

I frowned before taking the next shot Sirius had poured for me. Sirius looked perturbed that Molly had taken the alcohol away, but he didn't voice his annoyance. Remus glanced between the two of us.

"How is Carrigan doing?"

"She's fine," I responded.

"She didn't seem fine at dinner," Arthur whispered.

"She's just having a hard time with Voldemort's return," Sirius said. "And Cadence's near death experience two months ago."

"Her reality has been laid out before her," said a voice.

We all turned to look at the staircase where Benjamin Snow was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. He was standing on the last step before entering the basement.

"If I may?" he asked before stepping down into the basement.

"Yes, Benjamin, you may," Remus said waving him forward.

"Has Gabriel arrived yet?"

"No," I frowned as I sat up straight and leaned forward in my chair. "Why do you ask?"

"There is something I would like to speak to you, Sirius and Gabriel about," he said as he looked at everyone else in the room. "I'm sorry, can I speak to Sirius and Cadence in private?"

"Of course," Arthur said standing up. "We should be turning in anyways."

"Alright," Remus said standing up and patting Sirius on the back. He stopped by my chair and kissed my cheek lightly. "I'll see you both tomorrow night."

"Good bye, Remus," I said. "Do you mind bringing the whiskey over here?"

Remus smiled. "Don't you think you've had enough?" He kissed my cheek again as I smiled and rolled my eyes.

"Cadence, have you been drinking?" Benjamin smirked as he put his hands in the pockets of his jeans and approached my chair at the opposite end of the room.

"Yes," I bowed my head. "Contrary to other people's beliefs, I can hold my liquor." I made the last statement as I followed Remus out of the basement with my eyes. He waved to us and disappeared up the stairs.

Benjamin took a seat next to me. He folded his hands on the table.

"Carrigan has been having nightmares," he whispered softly. He didn't wait for a moment, he just laid it all out there. "I felt that you should know."

"You have a terrible bedside manner," I whispered as I adjusted my shirt.

"What sort of nightmares?" Sirius asked sitting forward.

"Of Cadence dying," Benjamin looked at me with icy blue eyes as he spoke. His hard stare just reinforced the seriousness of his words.

"How?" I asked before Sirius could speak.

"Voldemort tortures you to death."

"She told this to you?" I questioned with skepticism.

"No," Benjamin frowned while he sat back in his chair. "She has not been blocking me in lessons. She isn't using her strong mental abilities at all and I was able to penetrate her mind before we ended today. She didn't wish to discuss the nightmares with me when I asked her about them."

"Of course not," Sirius scoffed.

"Sir, I know you do not approve of me working to train your daughter," Benjamin said leaning across the table. I wondered if Benjamin knew this just from reading Sirius, or had Sirius actually said something to him? "But I know that she is stronger then this. She has never let me penetrate her mind before. Up until a month ago, Carrigan has always taken great pride in her mental abilities. When we first met she was excellent with Legilimency and Occlumency. In the last month she has allowed her skills to slip."

"She wants to talk to someone," I sighed. "She wants to open up to someone and allowing you into her mind suggests she wants to talk to you, Benjamin."

"I doubt that," Sirius said.

"Sirius, please," I said sharply. Sirius rolled his midnight blue eyes away from me.

"If she wanted to talk to me why didn't she say something when I asked her about it?"

"Because, Carrigan does not talk to people who inquire about her problems," I responded. "When she is ready to talk to you she will."

"Then why allow me to see the dream?"

"To prepare you for what she wants to discuss," I shrugged. "So you know how to help her understand it. And she probably knows that you will come down here and speak to us."

"Why?" Sirius questioned looking back at me and Benjamin.

I gave them a weak smile. "Because she knows that having nightmares about Voldemort is alarming. I've been having the same nightmare."

"I was honestly more concerned about her sudden inability to use her mental powers," Benjamin said.

"Last year," I whispered. "Carrigan was having dreams of Voldemort. My Father and I share a connection because of a blood bond he performed on me, and a failed _Connecto Anima_ curse. It is possible, that sometimes, Carrigan intersects the connections or visions I have from my Father."

"But why would Voldemort be sending you a vision that he's going to kill you?" Sirius asked.

I shrugged. "I think the events of today are evidence that he wants me and Carrigan dead."

"We don't know what those Death Eaters were after," Benjamin said.

"Are you suggesting that they'd be after you instead of me or Carrigan?"

"No," he shook his head. "Although, I don't know who my parents were. It is completely possible that Voldemort knows something we don't."

I sighed with skepticism and rolled my eyes.

"Either way," Sirius said lightly. "What are we going to do about Carrigan's dreams?"

"There is nothing to be done," I replied. "She'll talk to us about them when she is ready. And pushing her will not help the situation."

Benjamin and Sirius both nodded their heads.

"I just wanted you to know," Benjamin said as he made to stand up.

"Thank you," I whispered. "Keep pushing her in lessons, Benjamin. I know that she doesn't like it, but she doesn't fully understand what's at stake right now."

"With all do respect, Cadence, I'm afraid if I push her too far in lessons she'll become completely introverted…and that could lead to self destruction."

I frowned, but nodded my head. "You're her Guardian. I have faith that you'll guide her properly."

Benjamin bowed his head in thanks and then turned, leaving me alone with Sirius in the kitchen. I glanced at the clock again as I heard him disappear up the stairs. It was almost ten o'clock at night.

"I'm going to go find Gabriel," I whispered as I stood up. "Death Eaters could have come back after we left…caught him off guard…" My voice shook as I spoke. "I'm going to go back to the house."

"Cadence," Sirius said my name with a frown.

"I'll be back," I replied, ignoring the concern in his voice. "I'll be back in the morning, no matter what."

"Be safe," Sirius advised.

"Always am," I winked at him and kissed his cheek. I turned away and headed up the stairs into the foyer of the eerie old house. I was pulling on my cloak when there was a gentle knock on the front door. I paused for a moment, my heart racing in my chest, as I stared at the door. I twisted the knob gently while I clenched my wand in my other hand, then carefully opened the door far enough just to press my face between it and the frame. I couldn't help but smile as my eyes fell on Gabriel Quintin.

"The name of your daughter?" I whispered, trying to hide my excitement at seeing him.

"Jennifer," he responded. "The name of our son?"

"Caspian," I said instantly while swinging the door open wide for him to enter. He stepped in and pulled off his cloak as I shut the door. He looked me up and down while I pocketed my wand and crossed my arms over my chest to give him a dirty look.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I was going to get you," I said punching his shoulder. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Doing exactly what I said I would be doing," he said grabbing my hand before I could pull it away from his shoulder. He held it tightly in his own, squeezing it with tenderness, before he brought it to his lips and kissed it delicately. "Worried I'm cheating on you?"

I laughed out loud. "No," I said pulling my hand from his gentle lips. "I was worried Death Eaters had come back to the house for another round."

"They did," he nodded as he stepped closer to me and pushed my cloak off my shoulders. He kissed my neck gently. He caught my cloak once it fell off my arms and threw it on the coat rack behind me.

"How many?"

"Just two. I took care of them."

"Apparently my Father did not like the message you sent."

Gabriel smiled at me. "No," he said as he kissed my lips. "He didn't."

I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his chest. Gabriel rested his head on mine as he engulfed me in his arms. "I had to burn the house."

I stepped back in bewilderment. "What?"

"Cadence, we couldn't take any chances that we left something behind for them to find. A note, a keepsake, any magic. The place had to be burned."

"But…" I frowned and looked away. I had hoped that after everything was done we could return to the house in the country. It had been something I had built for myself, for Carrigan. It was my _home_. It was a place I loved very much. While I was okay with moving, I had told Gabriel that I would not sell the house. I still wanted to return to it.

"We were never going to be able to return to it," he said reading my mind. I hadn't felt him use Legilimency on me, but Gabriel didn't really have to. He knew me well enough to know what I was thinking all the time. "If we didn't destroy it your Father would use it for himself, or he would have destroyed it. It's better that I did it."

"I wish you had told me."

"I know you would have fought me every step of the way."

"Yea," I said sharply. "I would have. Because it was my house, Gabriel."

"I'll building you one myself when this war is over," he said with a loving smile.

"While that is very romantic," I responded with my own smile. "I don't want you to. I'll find us a house since its Carrigan and I who care. You could live in a hole and be happy."

I pulled away from him and made my way towards the kitchen stairs. He was smiling at me as I moved, which made my cold, and rather harsh, comment bounce off him. He knew that what I had said was true. Gabriel was a simple man. The only thing that mattered to him was surviving.

"Are you hungry?"

"No," Gabriel said with a shake of his head.

"I'll just let Sirius know that you're here," I said. "I had told him I was going to find you."

Gabriel smiled. "Which room are we in?"

"Third floor at the end of the hall, on the right."

Gabriel nodded and moved up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Sirius was sitting in his chair still at the kitchen table. He had grabbed the bottle of fire whiskey and was drinking it slowly, straight from the bottle. He stopped mid-sip when he saw me appear at the base of the stairs. I raised my eyebrows at him and frowned as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Sirius," I whispered sadly. "What are you doing?"

"Drinking," he said mildly as he put the bottle down. "I thought you were going to get Gabriel?"

"He got here right as I was going to leave," I replied.

"And you're sure it's him?"

"Yes. Two Death Eaters attacked him before he managed to finish moving everything. And then he burned the house once it was all done. That's why it took so long."

"Alright then," Sirius said. "I'm happy he's here."

I frowned slightly and glared across the table because I knew Sirius was being facetious. I wasn't sure what had set him into such a state that he needed to drink straight from the bottle, but obviously he was not happy that Gabriel was staying in his house. I wasn't sure if I wanted to ask why he was upset. I was afraid it may open a can of worms that I could not close.

"I thought you weren't the marrying type," Sirius opened the can so I wouldn't have to. I looked down at my hand that was gripping the back of the chair with white knuckles. The silver wedding band shined up at me, reminding me of my commitment and love for Gabriel.

"Is that what this is about?"

"I suppose you're allowed to change your mind." Sirius wasn't looking at me. He was staring at the table, pulling at a loose splinter that was sticking up out of it.

"Yes, I am. I don't answer to you, Sirius. You're drunk. I'm going to bed before you say something to me that you regret."

I turned and moved away quickly to the stairs. If he said anything to call me back, I didn't hear it. If I had, I would have ignored it anyways. I was not going to discuss my private relationship and decisions with him. Not the ones that concerned Gabriel anyways. Sirius had no right to ask me those sorts of questions anymore. As I walked up the stairs to the third floor bedroom, I realized that Sirius Black was a man in great pain, and sadly, I wasn't sure if that pain would ever leave him. I hoped it would, not just for his sake, but for the rest of ours as well.


	6. Meeting Dung

_MOM!_

I shoot up in the bed, throwing the sheets off my warm body. I looked around in full confusion, throwing pillows and blankets around while accidentally hitting Gabriel.

_MOM!_

I cried out and grabbed my head as I rolled out of the bed. I landed on my hands and knees on the wooden floor of the bedroom as I cried out again, my head aching in agony.

"Cadence?" Gabriel questioned concerned.

"Carri," I murmured as I pulled on my hair. "Go. She's crying out. Go, I'll be fine."

Gabriel ran his hand over my back as he moved past my crippling body to the bedroom door. I heard him leave and caught a glimpse of his half-naked body leaving. I slammed my hand against the floor, trying to relieve some of the pain. I cringed and sat up while taking a deep breath. Carrigan's voice had stopped echoing in my head but the pain remained. It throbbed as a migraine set in. As soon as the tears had stopped leaking from my eyes, I wiped them away with the back of my hand and carefully stood up.

Once I had caught my breath and balance, I started to move for the bedroom door. Carrigan's cries could be heard all the way downstairs. As I passed down the staircase, I saw Molly stunning the portrait of Sirius' mother. I moved straight past her without a word. Why was Carrigan downstairs screaming her head off?

I had first thought she was in her room, having a night terror of me dying. But when I arrived down in the kitchen I was bewildered to find Benjamin restraining Carrigan against the kitchen wall. She was pressing back against him, trying to break free of him, but he held her firmly, and told her to try and relax.

"I am relaxed!" she hissed.

Gabriel stood over a thin older looking man who sat in a chair. Sirius was standing next to him, looking at the man with a deep frown.

"I'm sorry Dung," he said lightly. "Carrigan is just…"

"Jumpy!" said the man who Sirius addressed as Dung.

"What is going on?" I questioned moving towards Carrigan who had just shoved Benjamin away from her. She came to me instantly and wrapped her arms around my waist while burying her head into my shoulder.

"He startled me," she whispered in my ear quietly as she clung to me. "I was getting some milk, and he was digging through the silverware drawer. I didn't know who he was—I thought he was stealing."

I rubbed her back carefully and brushed her hair as I tried to calm her. "It's alright," I whispered as I held her tightly against me.

"She attacked me!" the man yelled as he made to get up. Gabriel grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back into the chair, causing Dung to look up at Gabriel viciously. "Who the hell is this guy? Sirius, _I thought this was your house_."

"I'm sorry, Dung," Sirius said again apologetically. "You just got the jump on my daughter and her over-protective step-father isn't very trusting."

"You shouldn't trust him either," Carrigan said roughly as she turned away form my chest. "He was stealing!"

"Carrigan, enough!" Sirius yelled at her. Carrigan stepped back in shock. She turned and looked at me.

"I need to go for a run," she said.

"Hold on," Sirius said stepping towards her. "It's two in the morning! And you don't get to attack people and just walk away from it."

"Benjamin are you up for a run?" I asked ignoring Sirius.

Benjamin nodded his head. "Absolutely."

"Let's go," Carrigan said stomping out of the room. She marched up the stairs and Benjamin followed. He stopped next to me and leaned in close.

"I got down here just before Gabriel," he whispered. "She had that bastard pinned against the wall with his hand behind his back. He's lucky she didn't dislocate his shoulder."

I smiled lightly and nodded. "Thank you. Knock on my bedroom when you get back."

Benjamin bowed his head, his crystal blue eyes giving me a silent welcome and acknowledgement of my request. He marched up the stairs after Carrigan who I could see waiting for him at the top. I frowned and stepped farther into the kitchen.

Sirius was giving me the ugliest look he could muster. A hole opened in my heart while he glared at me, but I stood by what I did. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared back at him. He didn't understand that Carrigan had to get out. If she didn't, she'd fight harder then he was prepared for.

"She shouldn't be running—"

"Benjamin will keep her safe," I replied roughly to Sirius. "He has so far—"

"She's a thirteen year old girl!"

"Who just pinned your sneaky friend to a wall when he startled her," she retorted sharply. "I'm sure Benjamin and Carrigan can take care of themselves."

"That's besides the point, Cadence," Sirius yelled sharply. "You completely undermined my authority as Carrigan's father in my own home."

I could only glare at him. His words were so infuriating that if I opened my mouth to yell at him I'd bring down the house around us. I took a deep breath and turned away, ignoring his words again. It was easier to ignore him then confront him.

"She's thirteen?" Sirius' friend said in disbelief. "Damn, Sirius. You raised your girl right. She's a feisty little spitfire—"

"Stop talking about my daughter!" I said pointing at the man sitting in the chair.

"Everyone stop!" Arthur Weasley yelled. We all stopped bickering like children and looked at the ground with some guilt. I wasn't sure when Arthur and Molly had arrived, but they were standing at the base of the stairs looking around the kitchen at all of us.

"Mundungus, what are you doing here?" Arthur asked.

"I just thought I'd come here to see what you all needed me to do now," the man sitting in front of Gabriel moved uneasily. I rolled my eyes and turned away with uneasiness. I looked across the room at Gabriel who shook his head, causing me to frown deeply. This man, Mundungus, was a liar. It was like Carrigan had said, he was fishing around in the drawers probably looking for silver.

"I don't think we need you to do anything," Arthur said easily. "Check in with Dumbledore. I'm sure he'll want you to keep watching Harry."

"I would suggest being more careful when you stop by," Gabriel said patting Mundungus' shoulders, causing the fidgety man to jump. Gabriel moved past his chair to me, looking intimidating and sexy, as he only wore black pajama pants. His magnificently defined muscles flexed as he moved, making me smirk as I looked into his eyes.

"She's really thirteen?" Mundungus asked in a low whisper. His dark eyes were looking between Sirius and me quickly, as if he were afraid I was going to pounce on him for talking about Carrigan again.

"She is," Sirius nodded as he thumped Mundungus' back. "I'm sorry, Dung. She's well trained and on edge right now."

I crossed my arms over my chest and looked up at Gabriel who gave me a weak smile. "I'm going back to bed," he said.

"I'll be along in a moment," I whispered. Gabriel kissed my cheek affectionately and moved away from me. I gave him a weak smile as he walked away, then looked back to Sirius and his 'friend.'

"This is your daughter's Mother?" Mundungus asked Sirius.

"I'm standing right here," I hissed as I leaned against the kitchen table and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Must be," Mundungus said standing up as he extended his hand. "You have the same feisty personality, Ms?"

"Coleman," I said slowly not extending my hand to him as his dark greasy eyes looked me over. I was only wearing a pair of short shorts and a form-fitting tee shirt. I glared at him so harshly that when his eyes met mine he jumped and turned away.

"Well, Sirius, I suppose I should be going," Mundungus looked at Sirius with watery guilty eyes. "You're ex is quite intimidating."

"Yes," Sirius whispered. "She always has been."

"I know exactly why you screwed her—"

I slugged him sharply across the face while he was slightly turned away. It was a sucker-punch blow, but well deserved. I glared viciously with green eyes that could light a fire at Sirius, who was laughing at my swing. He was trying to help Mundungus up.

"You consider him a friend?" I snipped. I turned on my heel as both men laughed at me and left the basement kitchen. When I arrived upstairs, Gabriel was still awake. He was lying in the bed with his hands resting behind his head, showing off his massive tattooed arms.

He smiled at me as I entered the room and quietly closed the door. I walked across the cold wooden floor to the bed and crawled in next to Gabriel, my husband. I smiled when I thought of that. I laid my body on his softly, our skin rubbing against the others tenderly. I could not help but smile because Gabriel had removed his pants. My hands reached over his head and squeezed his hands tightly while I rubbed my body against his.

"What happened downstairs?" he asked.

"Nothing," I sighed as I laid my head in the crook of his neck. "Mundungus," I said his name with disgust. "Made a pass at me."

"Did he?" Gabriel started to sit up under me, causing me to slip off his body. I laughed at his reaction and threw my messy brown curls out of my face.

"Relax," I smiled. "I slugged him."

He grinned as he leaned forward to kiss me. "That's my woman."

Gabriel's lips were warm and tender against mine. His hands traveled down my body and pulled at the tee shirt I was wearing, desperately wanting me naked with him. I sat up, on him, and allowed him to remove my shirt. Gabriel sat up, wrapping his arms around me and kissed my neck gently. I moaned pleasurably in his ear, smiling, as my body tingled and skin shivered. Gabriel pulled the blankets over our bodies and rolled us over, so he was on top, making me grin with playfulness. His hands ran all over my skin while we kissed with passion.

About a few hours later, Gabriel and I were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. We nearly jumped apart from each other, pulling the sheets over our bodies as we tired to get as far from each other as possible.

"Yes?" Gabriel called as I laid on my back looking at he ceiling. The bedroom door opened a crack and Carrigan stuck her head into the room. She raised her eyebrows at us and smirked while taking in our appearance. I sat up on my elbows, holding the sheets over my chest, to look at her.

"Hey," she said mildly, still smirking. "Sorry to interrupt…"

"Don't be silly," I said. "You're not interrupting anything."

Carrigan laughed lightly. "Right," she smiled. "Well, Ben just said for me to knock on your door. Let you know we're back."

"How was your run?" Gabriel asked.

"Good," Carrigan beamed. "I feel better….I'll go…so you two can get back to…"

"Sleeping!" I snipped.

"Right…sleeping." Carrigan winked and left the doorframe, closing it tightly. I sighed with embarrassment and put my hands to my face. Gabriel leaned over me carefully and kissed the back of my hands. He kissed my wrists and down my arms, then slowly pulled my hands away from my face.

"I love you," he whispered with a bright smile. He stole a kiss from my lips then moved away to get out of the bed. "I'm afraid I have to go to work."

I rolled onto my side and watched as he moved around the room looking for something to wear to work. I smiled as he moved, admiring his handsome physique and many tattoos. He dressed quickly in black pants and a red button up shirt. He pulled a black waistcoat on and then a thin black necktie. He tucked it into the waistcoat before leaning over me and kissing me slowly as his fingers traced along my jaw.

"It's four in the morning," I whispered grabbing his tie so he could not get away from me. "Stay a little longer…"

"Cadence, you surprise me," he smiled before kissing me again.

"I try, Gabriel."

I kissed him slowly, with my soft tongue penetrating his mouth. He moaned with longing as his hand moved down my face and grazed against my breast.

"I'm sorry, my sweet," he said as he inhaled the smell of my lavender shampoo. "I have to meet my new partner today since you pulled me away from them yesterday."

"You have to meet them this early?"

"I have paper work to do as well," he smiled and took a seat next to me. He brushed my hair out of my face and kissed me again. "Just wait till you come back next week. Scrimgeour will have a mountain of paper work for you to do."

"Great," I sighed lying down on the pillows. "And watch Mitchell Scott? I don't know if I can do both. My partner is very illusive."

"I think it's in his family's nature," Gabriel said. "Considering who his father was."

I frowned and bit my bottom lip as I remembered Scott's father, Thomas Nix. That man was a nasty piece of work. He was a close follower of my Father, who was a trained assassin. Nix had trained Gabriel in all of his murderous ways.

Gabriel patted my side affectionately and got up off the bed. He picked up a black suit coat and pulled it on over his suit. He started to button it up as he smiled at me.

"I'll see you later today."

"Alright," I whispered. Despite my disappointment at him leaving, I couldn't help but smile at him. He was handsome, dressed smartly, and had a charming aura.

"Cadence," he said as he opened the bedroom door. "I love you."

"I love you too," I beamed. He gave me that charming half-cocked smile that always made me weak in the knees then made to leave. "Gabriel," I called him back. He paused and looked at me with raised eyebrows. "We didn't use a condom."

The words barely left my lips and my voice was so low I wasn't sure if he could hear me. Gabriel frowned and nodded his head.

"Don't worry about it," he advised. "Not until we have to."

I forced a smile. "Alright."

He gave me a nod and then left the bedroom. I sighed and laid back in the bed as he closed the door. I was not supposed to be able to have children anyways. I had a miscarriage a year ago, because of an accident, but also because Gabriel and I were not supposed to reproduce. Our child would be too powerful for me to carry full term.

The white paint was pealing off the ceiling. I wondered if Sirius intended to refurnish any of the rooms now that people would be living or visiting the house often. It didn't matter…no one cared what the ceiling looked like anyways.

Sleep didn't come easily for me. By the time I had finally started to doze off, Carrigan was knocking on my bedroom door again, asking me if I wanted breakfast. I was lying on my stomach, my arm hanging off the bed. I growled in annoyance as she opened the door.

"I'm sorry, did you not get a lot of sleep?" Carrigan asked with an amused tone. I picked up a pillow and tossed it at her. She caught it and threw it back at me. "You want something to eat?"

"No," I hissed.

"Hey, Mom," she said sitting on my bed. I sighed and rolled onto my back, keeping the sheets close to me so I wouldn't scar her with my nakedness.

"Yea, Carri? What's going on?"

"I'm sorry that I alarmed you this morning."

"Don't be sorry," I whispered. "That guy Mundungus is a dick. I slugged him clean across the face."

"Nice," Carrigan beamed. "Why is he friends with Dad?"

"Not sure. But I think you should stay away from him."

"No worries. He creeps me out."

"Alright," I nodded. "I'll be down in a little bit. What are you and Benjamin doing today?"

Carrigan's demeanor changed when I mentioned her Guardian's name. She looked at the floor of the bedroom with a deep frown. I saw that she was wearing a sports bra, loose fitting tank top, and athletic shorts. Her hair was back in a ponytail. I knew she was going to train or exercise by her appearance.

"What's the matter?" I asked carefully.

"I just don't like how Benjamin pushes me," she whispered. "I miss the way Gabriel taught me."

"Before Benjamin revealed that he was your Guardian you were crazy about him. I haven't seen you like that over a boy…well ever. What's changed?"

"He's just not the same Ben that I knew in the coffee shop."

This caught my attention, causing me to sit up.

"What do you mean?" I asked concerned.

"I don't mean that he's an imposter," Carrigan said quickly. "I _know _he's not an imposter. He's just not as gentle as he used to be. He is…sometimes…just not always."

"It's not his job to be gentle. It's his job to train and prepare you for the fights that are going to come soon."

"Mom," she said slowly. I waited for her to ask her question. I could see in her midnight blue eyes that something was burning deep inside of her. "Do you think Ben and I will end up together like you and Gabriel?"

I frowned deeply. "I don't know, Carrigan. Guardians aren't supposed to fall in love with their charges."

"Doesn't mean they don't."

I smiled. "Yea, I know. Go to breakfast, I'll meet you downstairs. I would really love to get dressed. This whole mother-daughter discussion while I'm naked is awkward."

Carrigan laughed. "Yea, it is. I was hoping you had underwear on under there." She stood up off the bed and picked up my pajamas off the floor. "I think I should start monitoring you and Gabriel—"

"We're married now," I yelled after her. "It's not inappropriate for us to have sex!"

She stopped at the door. "I thought you were just sleeping." I threw a pillow at her again for her cheek. She laughed as she dashed out of the room causing the pillow to thump against the door of the room. I sighed and got out of the bed to get dressed quickly.

When I arrived downstairs, everyone was sitting in the kitchen for breakfast; the Weasley's, Hermione, Sirius, Benjamin and Carrigan were surrounding the table. To my disappointment, Mundungus was also sitting at the table enjoying a bowl of oatmeal. I sighed as I entered the room while throwing my hair out of my face.

"Good morning," I said dryly to everyone.

I felt everyone's eyes on me as I moved around the table. I was thankful that I had put on jeans and a pull over, so I was not exposed to the prying eyes of Mundungus as I walked by. I took a seat between Carrigan and Sirius then began to serve myself some oatmeal. Carrigan was eating her oatmeal with berries and milk. I kept mine plain. I looked around the table wondering how it was possible that so many conversations could occur in a loud, crowded environment.

Ginny and Hermione were trying to have a conversation with Carrigan across the table. Fred, George and Ron were talking in detail with Mundungus, who was occasionally laughing with Sirius. Molly and Arthur were talking with each other quietly, which didn't seem possible. Benjamin was silent.

Suddenly, Arthur stood up. "I'm heading to work. Everyone have a fantastic day."

"Bye, sweetheart," Molly said standing up and kissing her husbands cheek. She walked with Arthur to the base of the staircase where they kissed each other's lips gently before separating. I smiled tenderly, thinking that Gabriel and I did something similar that morning.

Gabriel.

I frowned deeply thinking about the unsafe sex we had. It was irresponsible of us. We knew better and suddenly I was overwhelmed with concern. A few months ago, Persephone, a powerful Seer who was also my niece, had a vision that I would be responsible for a child without Gabriel if I did not learn to be independent of him. I sighed deeply as I placed my hands on my stomach without realizing it. While Persephone had foreseen Gabriel dying upon my father's return, she specifically said over the summer he would face his demise. There was still a month and a half left of summer. There was still a chance Gabriel could die…

"Mom, are you alright?" Carrigan's voice brought me back to reality.

"Yes, absolutely," I forced a smile. "What are you and Benjamin doing today?"

Carrigan rolled her eyes. "He thinks we're going to work on conjuring today," she whispered to me. "But I doubt it. I just don't get things done with him the way I did with Gabriel."

"I can hear you, Carrigan," Benjamin said with a bright smile. He ran his hand over his Mohawk and stood up from the table. Carrigan flushed and turned away from him. "Half hour, in the library?"

"Alright," Carrigan whispered with a sad frown. Benjamin stroked her cheek affectionately.

"Don't look so glum," he said. "I'm sure you'll get it today."

Carrigan snapped her jaw at Benjamin's fingers, trying to bite him. He laughed and picked up a banana as he walked away from the table.

"Thank you for breakfast, Mrs. Weasley," he said as he walked by her to the stairs. "Half hour, Carrigan."

Carrigan made a face at him as he walked away. Ginny laughed and shook her head, giving Carrigan a hard look, suggesting that she was being unfair to Benjamin.

"Carrigan," I said softly. "Please try."

"Yea," Carrigan said easily. "I will."

"Why does Carrigan have to take private lessons over the summer?" Ron asked from across the table.

"Because should could easily blow you up, just like Cadence," said one of the twins. "Ben keeps her in line."

"He doesn't keep me in line," Carrigan said aggressively. "_No one_ keeps me in line."

She stood up from the table and moved away quickly without another word. George punched his twin in the shoulder as I gave him dirty looks across the table.

"Well done, mate," George said.

"You should apologize," Molly said.

"Yea, because she could easily kill you," Sirius smirked as he took a bite of his eggs. Mundungus laughed, which caused me to roll my eyes. I wondered how long he'd be there. I didn't like him. He reeked of distrust and betrayal. I didn't want him anywhere near Carrigan or the Order of the Phoenix. Obviously, Dumbledore saw some use in him, even if it was menial. He trusted Mundungus enough to send him to watch Harry Potter. But I didn't trust him, not even just to watch Harry.

"Well, I'd best be off too," he said as if on cue. "Have to go watch over the Potter boy…make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

"Alright, mate," Sirius said standing up to say good bye. He shook hands with Mundungus and then clapped him on the back. "Be safe."

Mundungus made his exit without another word. I stood up from my chair abruptly and went after him.

"Cadence!" Sirius called after me. I ignored him and marched up the stairs after Mundungus, calling out to him.

"Mundungus," I said in the foyer. Mundungus stopped at the door and looked at me with apprehensive grey eyes. "I wanted to apologize for last night. I'm sorry I was rather rude. I just get fired up when someone threatens my kid and talks about my sexual activities as if it's any of their business."

Mundungus bowed his head. "It's alright," he said slowly, but still with unsure eyes. I stepped closer to him.

"Be careful watching over Harry," I added. He bowed his head again and opened the door. "Oh, and Mundungus," I called. He stopped and looked at me with those watering grey eyes. "If you do anything stupid that allows for my godson to be hurt, I will kill you myself."

"I believe you," he said with a forced smile.

"Good," I retorted as I glared at him. "I'm happy that we have an understanding."

He bowed his head and dashed out the door, making me smile slightly.

"Don't you think that was a little unnecessary?" Sirius asked. I turned and looked at him as he stood at the top of the basement staircase. I frowned and dropped my hands uselessly to my sides.

"I was just being honest," I shrugged. "How did you meet that slime ball anyways?"

"Friend of a friend."

I rolled my eyes. "A friend of a friend from Azkaban?"

"That was unnecessary," he retorted.

I bit my bottom lip and shrugged again. "Excuse me," I whispered moving past Sirius to go back to the basement to finish breakfast with Carrigan. Everyone had mostly finished their breakfast. When I returned to the kitchen, their eyes followed me around the table again as I made my way back to my seat. I picked up my spoon and carefully finished my plain oatmeal, satisfied that I had told Mundungus to stick to his word when protecting Harry. Sirius entered the kitchen a few minutes later looking annoyed, causing me to sigh. Carrigan looked between us with raised eyebrows, then stood up and left without a word. I frowned, wondering if part of her unhappiness was because Sirius and I were always at each other's throats.


	7. Procrastination

_The Daily Prophet_ was a disappointment. The only reason I had kept reading it was because hidden under all of the garbage and lies they were printing was the truth of the Ministry. It was obvious that the Ministry felt Harry Potter was an immature, attention-craving boy who was trying to be over-dramatic by concocting a story about Voldemort's return. What made me even more uneasy was that they were making Dumbledore out to be a cracked pot. If the Ministry did not have Dumbledore as an ally in the trying times that were about to come I don't think the country stood much of a chance of defeating my father. No one seemed to want to believe that Dumbledore had no interest in the Minister position (like the Minister seemed to so intently think), rather he was simply interested in our survival.

I crumpled the paper fiercely in my hands abruptly and threw it across my cubical in frustration. I had only been at work for half a day and already I was wanted to quit. I did not want to work for the Ministry when they were so blind and stupid, but Dumbledore had asked me personally, nearly begged me, to stay at the Ministry for the time being. The Order of the Phoenix had two battles to fight right now: the emergence and hidden acts of my father _and_ the Ministry's backlash against the claim that he had returned. The Order needed eyes and ears inside the Ministry to keep up with their activities. And, as Gabriel reminded me, I needed a job.

"Something wrong?"

I frowned and swiveled in my chair to look at the entrance of the cubicle. Mitchell Scott was leaning against the cubicle wall, just outside the threshold, looking at me with raised eyebrows over his memorizing amber eyes. His arms were crossed and on top of the edge of the wall. He appeared calm and collected, but his eyes betrayed him; he was looking at me with deep concern. I was not sure if he was worried about me personally, or if he was worried that I had gone mental and was a risk to his safety.

"I hate this place," I said quietly as I leaned back in my chair.

"Ah," Mitchell said as he walked into the cubicle. He had grown his hair out since the last time I had seen him. Now, his straight black hair was long enough to tie back in a small ponytail. He was wearing blue jeans and a Black Sabbath tee shirt. I had no clue who Black Sabbath was, or why he was wearing such informal clothing to work. "I'm not going to be here long."

I wasn't sure if he read my mind or if he was just stating a fact. I looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Why?"

"I am going to New York for a few days," he said looking at me over his shoulder as he cleaned up his desk. "Just need a vacation."

I nodded my head slowly. This was my first day back since my Father had kidnapped me in mid-May. While I was held captive, I had killed Penelope Talon, a.k.a. Mary Scott, in self-defense. She was a Death Eater that we were assigned to bring in. She had personally betrayed me, which was why I was on her case, but she was also Mitchell's twin sister. He knew that I had killed her, but we had yet to discuss it. It seemed like something that should be discussed, in some way.

"Why do you need a vacation?"

Mitchell looked at me with raised eyebrows, as if I should know the answer to that. "Need to get away."

"Do you want to talk about Pen—"

"—do I want to talk about you murdering my sister?" he interrupted me ruthlessly. I looked at him with sad green eyes, frowning and silent, waiting for him to continue. I was sure he would. "No, Cadence. I don't want to talk about that."

"Would you have done differently in my situation?" I asked quietly.

He was silent as he turned away. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my desk in my chair. I was supposed to be doing a mountain of paper work for my reinstatement, but I was procrastinating by reading the paper and now staging a fight with my partner.

"No," he said sadly. I turned to look at him with mild surprise. He was still facing his desk, standing up straight with tension through his shoulders. He turned to me, leaned against his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked pained, haunted, as if he knew what I had done had been in self-defense but it still did not sit well with him. I was not sure what pained him more—that I had killed someone, or that I had killed his sister, even though she was an evil, lying, murdering Death Eater. "She was still my sister, Cadence. I just hoped it would have ended differently."

"She wouldn't have changed, Mitch," I replied. "I'm not proud of what I have done. But, she wouldn't have changed. She would have died for my Father or herself. She would never have been loyal to any force that moved against him."

Mitchell nodded his head once, but said nothing. He turned back to his desk and collected a few things; shoving papers and files into his side-bag. He swung the bag over his shoulder and gave me a weak smile.

"I'll see you in a week or so."

"Alright," I replied. "Have a nice vacation."

"Thanks."

He walked out of the cubicle without another word and did not look back. I frowned deeply. I wasn't sure where he was going or what he was really up to, but I was worried that he wasn't actually going to New York for vacation. Once Mitchell had walked away, I stood up and left the cubicle. I weaved my way down the aisles of Aurors' cubicles to arrive at Gabriel's cubicle.

"Hey," I said entering it. He was sitting at his desk, reading a case-file. He turned in his chair and beamed at me.

"Hello," he said taking my hand and pulling me onto his lap. I giggled lightly as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. "It's nice to see your face."

"You saw it this morning," I smiled.

"I like seeing it as much as possible," he shrugged before stealing a kiss from my lips. "What brings you over here?"

"Mitch is going out of town," I whispered. "He didn't give me specifics. Only that he was going to New York."

"I'll write to Dumbledore," Gabriel responded very quietly after a moment of thought. "Perhaps we can spare someone to tail him."

I nodded. "Alright."

"Anything else on your mind?" Gabriel asked with raised eyebrows.

"I really hate this place."

"You're too good of an Auror to be working somewhere else," Gabriel said with a mild expression of annoyance on his face. We had this discussion at least once a day in the last week and he was no doubt getting sick of my complaining.

I sighed. "I know. But I don't believe in this place and its agenda. I have a hard time working for a system I don't support."

"It's just a matter of time. When your Father makes his return public the Ministry will be looking to you for a great deal of help and support."

"I don't want that either. I just want to stop him."

"I know. We will, Cadence. This is a game, more so then it was the first time. We have to play the game," Gabriel's words did not comfort me, which he could see. He tried to make up for it by kissing me slowly with wonderfully soft lips that broke down my fear. Gabriel could betray me in the worse way and I would probably always forgive him, just for his kisses. His kisses calmed my worries of work, but as we continued to exchange our affections for each other, he sensed that something else bothered me, something we had not discussed recently. "Are you still worried about the sex?"

"I was never worried about the sex," I replied between kisses. "The sex is mind blowing. I'm worried about being pregnant."

Gabriel pulled away and looked at me seriously. "If it happens, we have options."

I frowned seeing a deep desire in him that he had not voiced since my miscarriage a year ago. "Are you hoping that I'll carry the child to term?"

"You've made it clear that the child would not survive," he said blankly. I could tell he was perturbed by the fact that I would not carry our child to term.

"That doesn't answer the question, Gabriel," I said with a gentle but serious tone.

He frowned and looked at our laps before looking back up into my eyes. His eyes were dark chocolate brown today, making my heart melt as I stared at him. He looked torn, and as usual, I could not read him.

"Would it be so bad to try?" he whispered.

I sighed uncomfortably and bit my lip. "Gabriel," I rubbed my head.

"Forget it," he said instantly at the sound of my sigh. "If you're pregnant we'll get an abortion."

"Gabriel," I said his name viciously. "It's not something that I want to do. But what happens if I carry the child to term and a monster is born?"

He rolled his brown eyes and shook his head.

"I don't think you would give birth to a terrifying being," he responded. "People aren't born bad. How they're raised makes the difference."

"You want a child?" I questioned cutting straight to the point.

"No," he laughed. "If it happens, I think we should carefully consider our options."

I shook my head in disbelief. Gabriel was saying no, he didn't want kids, but really he did. If he had another chance, he would want to raise a child right. I, however, did not want any more children, not even accidentally.

"Cadence," he whispered my name then took my chin to look him in the eye. "I love you. If you really do not want another child, we will not have another one. Another child is not worth losing you."

I smiled easily as my heart melted. "I love you too."

He kissed me quickly. The words had barely left my lips as he pressed against mine. I moaned gently into his mouth as we shared our love while wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

"You know, there is a reason you two aren't partners anymore," said a cool female voice. I pulled away from Gabriel and turned on his lap to look at the cubicle entrance.

A stunningly tall, and skinny, redhead had entered the cubicle. She was wearing a knee length black pencil dress and red high-heeled pumps. Her long red hair was back in a tight ponytail that cascaded down her back in delicate curls. The back of her dress opened in a long V shape, cutting down to the center of her back, at the waist. Her pale flesh was perfect, not a spot or flaw on her. She had sapphire blue eyes that would have chilled any man to the bone, but to me, they made me uneasy. Something specific about this red-headed bombshell made my skin crawl with uneasiness. I could not place my finger exactly on it, but there was something about her eyes that chilled me, made my skin crawl and my senses heighten.

She effortlessly flipped her cinnamon ponytail over her shoulder and set her eyes on Gabriel's, looking past me as if I didn't exist anymore. I felt him shift in his seat, despite my body still on his lap.

"Cadence," he said. "This is Athena Sawyer, my partner."

"Hello," I said extending my hand to the woman who looked like she could be a reincarnation of the Greek goddess without doubt. "Cadence Coleman."

"I know who you are, Ms. Coleman," Athena said as she looked me over. She briefly took my hand and shook it firmly.

"Most people do."

"Aren't you supposed to be working?"

I smirked at Athena's harsh look and stern body posture. As I took her in I realized that I was either not going to like her at all or I was going to love her. She appeared to be that kind of person. The kind that is on a person's Christmas list or their hit list; always on either, never on both, and never not on one of them. Perhaps it was the stern harshness of her eyes, her undeniable beauty, or the way she held her posture. She was a strong woman, I could see that, but her appearance only made me respect her. It did not make me trust her.

"Most people also know that I'm an amazing procrastinator when it comes to desk work. I'm more useful in the field," I replied.

"Yes," Athena returned my smirk with her ruby red lips. "I have heard you're excellent in the field. If you define excellent as violent, unreasonable, stubborn, and insubordinate."

I leaned close to Gabriel's ear as I continued to smile and stare at Athena. She was glaring at me with hard sapphire eyes, making me grin broadly. She was revealing more about herself with every word. She was a rule-follower, a by-the-book Auror. No doubt, that is why Scrimgeour had placed her with Gabriel. He never did things by the book, and Athena had to learn to find a balance…Gabriel probably did too…

"I like her," I whispered loud enough for Athena to hear. The comment bothered her as she rolled her eyes and turned away, setting files on her desk. Gabriel patted my thigh, urging me to get up off of him. I stood up and fixed my black blouse while Gabriel stood up next to me.

"You like her because she doesn't like you," Gabriel said as his hand rested on the small of my back. I nodded in agreement, as I continued to smile. Athena, if we ever got to know each other, would have tons of fun. I got under her skin easily and I'm sure if pushed far enough she could get under mine. "Either of you want lunch?"

"I'd love to get lunch with you," I said looking up at him.

"We have a meeting with the Minister," Athena said. Gabriel frowned and looked at me with apologetic eyes. I forced a smile and shrugged.

"It's fine," I said. "I have paper work to do anyways."

"I'll see you at home tonight then," Gabriel said kissing me again slowly. I smiled against his lips and kissed him passionately in return.

"Gabriel," Athena said walking out of the cubicle. Her tone was short and strike. "Meeting."

I raised my eyebrows as I pulled out of the kiss.

"She must work you pretty hard," I whispered.

"She's a little up tight," he admitted.

"She should probably let down that ponytail and let someone screw her."

Gabriel laughed and shook his head before kissing me again. "I'll see you later," he whispered close to my ear. His breath was hot on my skin, causing me to sigh with happiness. I stood on my toes and stole one last kiss from him before he left the cubicle.

"Bye," I whispered as my hands rubbed against his chest. He gave me a calming smile before stepping out of the cubicle. I watched him walk away towards the lift and looked around abruptly. This was not my cubicle. I rolled my eyes as I walked out of it, heading back for my own.

In my cubicle, I collected the paper work necessary for my reinstatement. I slipped it all into my bag and slung it over my shoulder. I pivoted without a second thought and left the cubicle while gripping the strap of my bag. I would do the paper work from home. There was no reason for me to be in the empty cubicle by myself.

The air outside in London was thick and humid. I could feel my hair curling as soon as I stepped out onto the streets. I had intended on walking to Grimmauld Place, but I did not want to in the heat. I closed my eyes, clung to my bag, and Disapparated on the spot. It was just as sticky on the porch of Number Twelve. I opened the door carefully and quietly, so not to disturb the portrait of Sirius' mother, and entered the foyer. I moved forward towards the bottom of the staircase leading up into the depths of the house. Without warning, something came throttling down the staircase towards me. I dived out of the way as Benjamin's half-naked, well-built body sprawled across the first floor landing. I raised my eyebrows.

"What's going on?" I questioned slowly as I stepped forward to help Benjamin. He groaned uncomfortable but sat up on his own as I knelt next to him.

"Ben, I am so sorry," Carrigan's panicked voice echoed down the stairwell. She appeared a few moments later in workout shorts and sports bra. Benjamin was rubbing his head, groaning in pain. Carrigan bent over and grabbed his arm, pulling him up to his feet. "I didn't think that would happen. I didn't think I could hit you that hard!"

I stood up and looked at the two teenagers with mild amusement.

"That was a good hit," Benjamin said. He looked over at me. "You're home early, Cadence."

"Are you sure you're okay?" I questioned ignoring his observation. "You just fell down a flight of stairs. What the hell were you two doing?"

"We were training," Carrigan said. She put her hands on her hips and looked at me with sharp midnight blue eyes. "What are you doing home?"

"I'm going to do paper work," I said lifting my bag up to show them. Carrigan would not let my early arrival at home slip. She was going to grill me until I caved about leaving the office. "I just didn't want to do it at the office."

"Right," Carrigan smirked. "You hate being back at work, don't you?"

"I thought I was _your_ Mom and you were _my_ daughter."

Carrigan laughed. "Yea, I know."

"Ready to start again?" Benjamin asked calmly.

"Are you sure you want to?" Carrigan smiled at him. There was a happy twinkle in her eye as she looked up at him. "We can take a break."

"I'm fine Carrie," he said.

"Alright," she nodded. She turned and dashed up the stairs without another word. I looked at Benjamin with curious eyes. His crystal blue eyes smiled at me weakly.

"She's doing well today?"

"I'm probably going too easy on her," he said honestly with a shrug. "She shouldn't have been able to push me out the room and down the stairs like that."

I laughed. "Maybe, she's finally starting to get better then you."

Benjamin laughed lightly. "Maybe…does Gabriel know you're home?"

"Yes," I said slowly as I studied him. "Benjamin, should I be concerned that you're rolling around a dusty old library half-naked with my thirteen year old daughter?"

"No," Benjamin retorted quickly. He looked uncomfortable suddenly with the direction the conversation had gone. "Look, Cadence, Carrigan is a very special girl. But she's still a girl. And I am not interested in pursuing a relationship with anyone right now. Being responsible for Carrigan is a challenge enough. I can't imagine trying to be in a relationship. No one would understand the relationship Carrigan and I have."

I smiled slightly. "I understand. Thank you. I'm sorry for questioning you like that."

"Don't be sorry. You _are_ her Mother, Cadence," he said with a slight bow of his head. He turned and dashed up the stairs as Carrigan called his name. I sighed heavily, but could not help smiling. Benjamin was a good man and I was happy that he was Carrigan's Guardian.

I made my way downstairs into the basement to have lunch while I did my paper work. I was not surprised to see Sirius sitting at the table, staring blankly across the room at the wall, while he gripped a double shot glass in his hand. It was empty and the bottle of fire whiskey that sat next to his hand on the table was close to empty. I frowned deeply.

"Have you been drinking all day?" I asked.

"It's only noon," he replied. "So, no I have not been drinking all day. Not yet anyways."

I threw my bag down on the table and took a seat next to him.

"Dare I ask why you're drinking?"

"Nothing else to do," Sirius shrugged.

I frowned deeply because his answer was layered with so many meanings that I could not think of an answer. "So, you're drinking?"

"Yea," Sirius said. We both fell silent for a few moments, then he continued to speak. "You all get to leave the house. You have your jobs, your lives, everything outside of here. I have...this place. This glorious reminder of my horrible family legacy."

Sirius jumped up abruptly and threw the shot glass against the wall. I jumped in surprise as the glass shattered against the basement wall and sprawled across the wooden floor.

"Sirius," I hissed with disappointment.

"Shut up, Cadence," he yelled. "Shut up! You don't get to judge me for how I handle my collapsed life."

I lowered my eyebrows to glare at him. "Sirius, shitty things happened to you and you're just drowning in it. You're letting it rule you. I get it. It's just as bad as being locked in Azkaban—"

"—it's worse!" he shouted.

"You have people here!" I yelled standing up. "You have people here who care about you. You have Carrigan! All this time you are spending drinking and moping alone you could be spending with your daughter."

"She's training," he whispered as he turned away from me. "She's training to be a murdering assassin, just like you. She doesn't want to spend time with me."

I frowned and sank back in my chair as his words settled into the air around us.

"You're not making it hard for her," I whispered.

"You can just never lay off, can you?" he questioned ruthlessly. "You always have to come back with some snide comment that makes everything hurt all over again."

"The facts are the facts, Sirius. I can't help if you don't like them."

"We're never going to just get along, are we?" he asked as he leaned over the table to pour himself another drink, in a new shot glass that had been sitting near the bottle. He took the shot quickly, before I could answer, and was pouring himself more as I remained silent. He drained the fire whiskey into his glass and slammed the empty bottle down viciously on the wooden table, causing it to shake.

"No," I whispered. "I guess not."

"At least we can agree on that."

"I don't like it," I said quickly with glaring eyes. "I don't like that we can't get along. For Merlin's sake, Sirius, we're adults. Why can't we get along like adults?"

"Because, we don't agree on anything. We see the world and relationships two very different ways," he shrugged.

"You hold onto grudges too long," I said realizing that this was still about how I wasn't with him, I was married to Gabriel. "And you're never going to let the fact that I married Gabriel go."

"I just don't understand it."

"You're not capable of understanding love, that's why you don't get it," I retorted. "You stand there all hurt and in pain because you still love me and you can't let go. You can't admit that you're the one who left. You left because I didn't want to marry you, as you should have. I would have left too. But you can't get over that I'm not in love with you anymore. You can't get over that _you_ left _me_ but _I _moved on."

"SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR HAPPY MARRIAGE!" He raged. I leaned back in the chair in complete shock. Sirius had never screamed at me before in our lives. He looked away from me, guilty because of his outburst, and snatched up the bottle of liquor on the table. He had forgotten it was empty though, and upon realizing it he threw it against the wall, just like his first shot glass.

"Hey," Benjamin said as he emerged in the basement. I frowned and put my head in my hands on the table. "You guys should know that we can hear you."

"You can hear Sirius yelling but he didn't wake the portrait of Mrs. Black?"

"It did," Benjamin's voice was light. "You were still screaming, that's why you couldn't hear her. I stunned her though."

"Why did you come down instead of Carrigan?" Sirius asked as he looked Benjamin over. "Protecting her from the damaging truth?"

"The truth that her father is a selfish drunk? No, I didn't come down to protect her form that," Benjamin said with a frank smile as he looked Sirius over with disappointment. "She didn't hear you. I told her I was coming down to see what was going on. But, Sirius, she's not an idiot. She knows you're the only two in the house with us. She knows you are fighting. And if she hears exactly what you're saying, like I can, then she'll never forgive you."

"What do you know about it?" Sirius hissed.

"She may not tell me everything now, but there was a time when we did talk—"

"About me!"

Benjamin frowned and shook his head. "Sirius, she's finally starting to get close to you. She's starting to trust and know you. Don't screw it up."

"You don't know anything about my daughter," Sirius said viciously. I wasn't sure how much of the alcohol was talking, which was making me nervous. I had never seen Sirius drunk and angry before.

"Actually, Sir, I do," Benjamin said. "I know her well enough to know that she won't come back from this. She won't come back from you being an alcoholic asshole. She can forgive you for not being there when you were in Azkaban. She can forgive you for not being there while you're on the run. But you're here now, Sir. You're here and she's ready to be your daughter."

"You won't let her be my daughter," Sirius jabbed his finger at us. "Neither of you will. You both have her training like," he hesitated. "Well, like she's not thirteen. Like she's going to be an Auror tomorrow."

"Sirius, we've discussed this," I said sharply. "She has to train. She is more powerful then I am. She is a powerful young woman and her powers will destroy her if Benjamin does not help her manage them."

"But does she have to train the way she's training now?" Sirius questioned. "Does she have to exercise all morning? Physically fight her way through the afternoon? And mentally practice blowing up the library in the evenings? _Does it have to be that way everyday?_"

"Yes," Benjamin responded. "Yes she does need it. Because she needs stability and discipline. She needs to be able to control her body, mind and emotions. If I could have it my way I wouldn't let her go back to Hogwarts, because I think it will distract her. Carrigan is so powerful that if she lacks discipline in the slightest way, she will lose control. And we can't afford that."

"Are you done?" Sirius snapped.

"Yes, Sir," Benjamin said respectfully. Sirius turned away form us and made his way to the liquor cabinet, where handsomely made crystal glasses for alcohol were kept. He opened the bottle cupboard and searched for another bottle of liquor. There appeared to be none left in the cabinet thought as Sirius cursed a storm. I sat, staring at the table in silence, as Benjamin turned on his heel and left the basement. When he was gone, I looked at Sirius with dark angry eyes.

"You know he's right," I said standing up and picking up my work bag. "That's why you're drinking."

I walked to the stairs and marched straight up them while my mind raced. How could this be happening? How could Sirius be an alcoholic? I was surprised when I saw Remus Lupin's handsome face in the foyer of the house. He was in the process of hanging his cloak on the coat rack.

"Remus," I said with a smile. He turned and smiled at me with his calm gentle brown eyes gleaming. He stepped forward and kissed my cheek in greeting.

"Hello, Cadence," he said looking me up and down. Concern entered his brown eyes because he could no doubt sense my discomfort and anger over Sirius' drinking. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I came home to do some paper work," I replied. "I got into a fight with Sirius instead."

"Of course you did," Remus said. "It wouldn't be a normal day if you two didn't fight about something."

"Just reinforces that we wouldn't have made it this far."

"There was a reason you both separated from the start," Remus gave me a weak smile as if to comfort me. He knew the words did not comfort me though. His creamy brown eyes begged for me to continue. He could see that something deeper was bothering me.

"I had hoped that we would be able to be friends again," I sighed. "For Carrigan's sake."

Remus frowned as he pulled me into a tight embrace. "I am sorry, Cadence. I wish I knew a way to make it better."

"How long has Sirius been drinking?" I whispered in Remus' ear as he continued to hold me. He pulled back slowly, frowning deeper then before. The age lines on his face were more evident as he frowned and the candle light flickered in the foyer. It was the only source of light in the front of the house because the curtains blocked all light from entering the windows.

"I've never noticed it as a problem," he said carefully while his hands remained on my shoulders.

"I think it is a problem," I replied. "He's been drinking all morning…that's what we just fought about."

Remus nodded his head. "He drank a lot when you two had your falling out, just for the first month after it happened. I noticed he started drinking more a couple weeks ago, when Dumbledore asked that he stay inside. He just feels restricted."

"Well his outlet for that restriction is pushing everyone else away," I said. "Will you talk to him, please?"

Remus' brown eyes suddenly looked very uncomfortable. I realized I was putting him in an awkward position—between Sirius and me. We were both Remus' friend, but he knew Sirius better and longer. I never held it against him that he took Sirius' side in fights. Before Remus could give me an answer, the sound of rushed feet greeted our ears. We both turned in surprise to see Benjamin practically flying down the staircase into the foyer.

"Cadence!" he said. He seemed surprised to see me so soon. He anticipated that I was still in the kitchen, another floor below. I stepped towards him.

"What?"

"Carrigan is gone."

Benjamin's voice was shaking with anger, I could see it written all over his face. His crystal blue eyes were so cold I thought a chilly frost would come weeping out of them and freeze anything that moved on the spot.

"_What?"_

"She's gone. Her backpack, some clothes, and that awful gaudy dagger Gabriel got her are all missing. She's gone."

"Go somewhere quiet and focus all of your energy on her," I said quickly. "Gabriel is always able to find me when I'm in trouble."

"I don't know if she's in trouble," Benjamin replied sadly. "What if she overheard us in the kitchen? What if she ran away?"

"You will still be able to find her," I said holding his shoulders. "You're her Guardian, you will always be able to find her."

Benjamin nodded his head. "What are you going to do?"

"Go the Ministry and get Gabriel. We'll take to the streets. I have a few ideas where she might go."

"I'll go tell Sirius," Remus said moving past us. His hand ran across my back in a comforting manner as he moved away.

"Remus, make sure he doesn't do anything rash, like leaving the house to look for her." Remus bowed his head in acknowledgement then disappeared down the stairs to the kitchen. I looked back to Benjamin and nodded my head, mostly to reassure myself.

"When you have a connection go straight to her, don't worry about telling us first. And when you find her, make sure it's her. Ask a question that only she would know the answer to."

"Of course," Benjamin said. He pulled away from me and moved up the stairs. I frowned deeply and looked around the empty foyer before heading to the door. The only thought that raced through my head was that I had to find Carrigan. If I had not been procrastinating and come home to do my paperwork I wouldn't have fought with Sirius and Carrigan wouldn't have run off. I slammed the door violently behind me in my rage; I didn't care if I woke Mrs. Black's portrait. On the porch of Number Twelve I Disapparated with a loud crack that echoed off the stone walls of the house. A long crack in the cement of the porch formed from where I stood and down the stone steps of Number Twelve. Upon Disapparation by anger how gotten the best of me and my energy had severely damaged the porch steps. I didn't care. I was to angry to care. I was angry at Sirius for many reasons, at Carrigan for running away, and myself, for procrastinating.


	8. Running Away

The atrium of the Ministry was bustling with people, as it always was. I don't think I had ever seen the atrium empty. People were always coming and going at the Ministry. I tore through the crowd heading for the lifts, which were just as crowded. I throttled my body into one, causing the other witches and wizards in it to look at me like I was crazy. The door closed just as I managed to get in the lift and a chime echoed announcing the lift moving to the floors below.

Most of the people cleared out of the lift before we were the Department of Magical Law Enforcement floor. The ride to the floor where my office was felt like it took forever. I tapped my foot impatiently as I waited for people to move on and off at other floors. My mind was racing—where the hell had Carrigan run off to? What was she thinking?

I got off the lift leaving two other people, who were both looking at me with curious eyes, in it. I swiftly moved through the halls towards the large oak doors that lead into the Auror department. When I pushed through them, I found the Auror department quiet, but busy. Paper airplanes were flying all over the place, there were people milling about the cubicles with stakes of paperwork in their arms, and people talking feverishly with each other about work related topics.

"Athena," I said surprised when I arrived in Gabriel's cubicle. He was no where to be found.

"Hello," the stunning red-head said as she looked up at me.

"Where is Gabriel?" I questioned as I adjusted the strap of my bag on my shoulder.

"Scrimgeour asked to see him," Athena replied. She looked me over for a few moments while she smirked. "He speaks very highly of you."

"I'm his wife," I replied because her comment was unimportant to me at the moment. "If he spoke ill of me I'd hope he'd divorce me."

I peered out across the department, standing on my toes to see over the other cubicles, trying to see Scrimgeour's office door. I didn't see Gabriel anywhere near the office.

"What did Scrimgeour want?"

"Don't know," Athena's tone was sharp. She was clearly annoyed with me.

"Thanks," I responded with my own aggravation. I pivoted on my heel and marched away from the cubicle, heading for Scrimgeour's office. As I approached the beautifully crafted oak doors of his office, his secretary, Milly, stood up to stop me.

"Scrimgeour isn't in now," she said quickly.

"What? Athena said he was in with Gabriel."

"Oh no, they went up to the Minister's office with Albus Dumbledore a few moments ago."

I frowned as my stomach flipped. What the hell was Albus Dumbledore doing at the Ministry of Magic?

"Thanks," I turned away quickly and jogged through the aisles of cubicles. As I moved my bag beat up against my butt reminding me of the heavy paperwork that I was supposed to be doing. The lift was empty when I arrived in it. I slammed my finger into the button to take me back upstairs to the top floor of the Ministry where the Minister's office was.

The elevator seemed to be moving slower then before. I hit the buttons vicious as I let out a frustrated scream.

"Come on!"

The elevator chimed as if my violence actually caused it to reach the floor faster. I threw my curls out of my face as the doors opened. I stepped forward to get off the lift before they opened completely, but my rushing didn't do any good, I collided straight into the hard chest of someone's body. I fell back from the collision, but their arms caught my unbalanced fall.

"Cadence," Gabriel said surprised.

I looked up in shock while readjusting the bag on my shoulder. I pushed my hair out of my face again and took in a long breath.

"Gabriel, I've been looking for you."

"I was just about to come see you—"

"Carrigan is gone," I said without waiting for him to finish.

"What?" he questioned in disbelief. "What do you mean she's gone?"

"She's run off," I said with some bite. "Benjamin is trying to find her, but I need you to come with me—"

"Ms. Coleman," said a deep but gentle voice approaching us. "I'm happy we found you so quickly."

"Albus," I said with mild surprise. "What are you doing here?"

The Headmaster of Hogwarts was standing next to us in fine sapphire blue robes decorated with silver stars and moons. His half-moon spectacles rested on the bridge of his crooked, but charming, nose, while his gleaming crystal blue eyes shined at me with mild pleasure. Despite the happiness in his eyes I could see worry, perhaps even fear. It was obvious that Dumbledore had been under a great deal of stress in the last couple of months since my Father's return.

"Dementors attacked Harry and his cousin in Little Whinging," Gabriel said, explaining why Dumbledore was present. "He's been expelled for performing underage magic in front of a Muggle."

My stomach plummeted. I bit my bottom lip and shook my head in disbelief. How could everything like this be happening at once? One freaking disaster after another was not what I needed right now. I needed to find my daughter and make it clear that running away was not an appropriate stress-management strategy. I needed Harry to be okay. Not only was it concerning that he was attacked by Dementors in a Muggle neighborhood, but he could not be expelled for defending himself. I knew that Dumbledore would do his best to see that didn't happen, but if Harry was expelled for illegally using magic I was sure that it would destroy him. Hogwarts, magic, everything about being a wizard was his life, to have that taken from him because he rightfully defended himself against dark magic would destroy all faith he had in our world; and the wizarding world needed Harry Potter to have faith that there was good in this world.

"This is bloody ridiculous," I retorted as I paced away and rubbed my forehead.

"I sense there is something else wrong?" Dumbledore asked as he looked at Gabriel.

"Carrigan has run away," my voice was so low when I said the words it sounded like a stranger had said them. I still could not believe it, even though I was the one who said it.

Dumbledore frowned deeply.

"Cadence, I'll go after Carrigan," Gabriel said. "We think you should go see Harry to calm him down."

"Calm him down?" I repeated as I looked at the two men with confusion and anger. How could they ask me to go calm down Harry when Carrigan had run off? "What the hell for?"

"If I know the boy at all, he's probably reeling with rage," said Dumbledore. "He's been with his Aunt and Uncle for too long and is angry that we have told him to not to leave the house. I think you should go see him."

"He won't listen to me," I retorted. "And he sure as hell won't be happy when I leave him with his Aunt and Uncle, since you're not ready for him to be moved to—" I stopped myself from saying Headquarters, Number Twelve, or Grimmauld Place. I couldn't afford to reveal the location of the Order of the Phoenix. It didn't matter that we were standing outside the lift alone. You never knew who was listening, or just around the corner, at the Ministry.

"He will listen to you," Dumbledore said. "I'm afraid I cannot see him right now. Obviously, Sirius can't go—"

"—he's too drunk to be of any use to anyone, right now," I retorted harshly.

Dumbledore and Gabriel both looked at me with raised eyebrows, bewilderment covering their faces. I sighed and turned away from them, placing my hands on my hips, as I paced back and forth down the corridor.

"I have sent Arthur back to inform everyone at the house what has happened," Dumbledore said. "I will stay here. I still need to follow up with the Minister and Head of Underage Wizardry."

"They won't expel him, right?" I questioned with uncertainty.

"If they do it will be a play of politics," Dumbledore responded. "Which we can't allow to happen."

I nodded in understanding while biting my lip.

"Why were there Dementors in Little Whinging?"

"I don't know," Dumbledore responded sadly. "And that is a terrifying fact."

"Alright, I'll go to Harry, but it may cause more problems then you think," I said.

"I'll go after Carrigan," Gabriel said.

I nodded as my teeth sunk deeper into my lip with nerves. "Alright, I'll go see Harry, but I don't know if it will be any good."

"Thank you, Cadence," Dumbledore said before bowing his head and turning away. I assumed he was heading back to the Minister's office to make sure that Harry wasn't expelled.

Gabriel looked at me with a sad frown, before I could move away he grabbed me and kissed me slowly. His tongue gently played with mine while his arms engulfed me. His hands rubbed my neck and cheek; held my chin while he shared his love with me. Softly, he pulled away and planted soft kisses on my lips. His rough fingers traced my jaw line slowly, barely touching my flesh. I moaned on his lips while kissing him back in return; my arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders as I stood on my toes.

"Go," he whispered. "I'll bring her back."

"I know you will," I replied with a nod of my head. "Be careful." I squeezed his hands tightly as I studied him. The next few words that came out of my mouth were softer then a whisper. "Remember, Persephone's prophecy."

Gabriel cupped my chin. "Don't worry about the prophecy."

I stepped back from Gabriel with a weak smile. Despite his words, he could tell that I was still worried. There was nothing he could do that would stop me from worrying about his death that was foreseen to occur before September. His dark eyes eased my trembling heart, but barely. I clenched my fist before Disapparating in front of him. His handsome chocolate brown eyes were the last thing I saw as I disappeared from the corridor in front of the lift at the Ministry.

Little Whinging appeared peaceful when my feet touched the cement sidewalk that lined the neighborhood. I had appeared in an alley between two tall brick walls between the blocks of houses. It was dusk. The sun was barely setting on the horizon. The orange-yellow glow of the rays reminded me of merry-gold flowers blossoming in the summer heat. The brilliant sunset blinded me, making me thankful for my aviator sunglasses resting on the bridge of my nose. Children could be heard laughing and playing throughout the streets and playgrounds. It was only a matter of minutes before their mothers would call them in for the evening.

I sighed and fixed my white button up blouse before marching forward into the neighborhood. I tucked my wand into my boot, next to a dagger, to hide it from obvious view. I knew I stood out enough as it was, in my tight grey pants, black combat boots (with a dagger tucked into each), and hip holster with a knife hanging on my left side. My white blouse was unbuttoned to reveal my cleavage and my sleeves were rolled up to my elbows revealing the tattoos I had on my wrist and arms. I really didn't need any Muggles noticing me carrying a wand to top off my appearance.

I stuck out like a sore thumb in the neighborhood. I looked like a woman that could not be trusted, was deviant and dangerous. As I walked down the sidewalk, heading towards Number Four Private Drive, adults stood on the porches of their adorable suburban homes and called their children to them. Every person, adult and child alike, watched me pass with curious and frightened eyes. Mothers held their youngsters against their bodies as if they were afraid I would lunge out and snag the children before running off.

I was relieved when I arrived on Private Drive that no one appeared to be outside. Everyone was hidden in their cool houses, trying to stay out of the July heat. It was at least eighty degrees despite it being dusk. The door to Number Four was tightly closed, but the windows on the front of the house were open, welcoming a cool summer breeze that would not come. I noticed that the flowerbed directly under the window was trampled, as if someone had been sitting or lying below the window, crushing the life from the flowers. I turned away from the flowerbed as I stood on the porch, and carefully knocked on the front door. The last time I had seen the Dursley's was two years ago, when Harry had run away after blowing up his Uncle's sister.

The door opened abruptly and the large frame of Vernon Dursley filled the doorframe. His round purple face glared down at me with fear and annoyance, as if I was interrupting his perfect evening by knocking on the door.

"What the bloody hell do you want!" he practically yelled. Despite the high tone of his voice, I could see fear in his beady eyes as he looked me over. It wasn't even the wand that terrified him the most, it was the weapons and my over all appearance. I represented everything that threatened his perfect normal life.

"You remember me, Mr. Vernon?" I asked with a forced smile.

"You're one of them," he nodded still glaring with beady eyes. I rolled my eyes at his rude comment, but nodded in agreement.

"Yes," I forced. "I'm Cadence Coleman. We met two years ago—"

"What do you want?"

"I want to see my godson," I said forcefully as I crossed my arms over my chest. "I've been sent to speak to him about the trouble he's gotten into."

"Of course he's gotten into trouble," Vernon snorted. "He nearly killed my son—"

"Vernon, who is it?" said a shaking female voice. "Right now isn't the best time to be having guests—"

Petunia Dursley appeared next to the wide frame of her husband. She was a thin, frail looking woman with a long face and curly brown hair. She looked nothing like Lily Evans Potter, and it was hard for me to believe that they were sisters. Petunia's dark eyes fell on the knife hanging off my hip, the tattoos on my arms, and then finally the wand and daggers in my boots. She let out a small cry.

"Don't keep her standing on the porch!" Her voice was high pitched and shrilled as she grabbed my arm and pulled me into the foyer of the house. "The neighbors could be watching!"

"And now they just saw you pull this woman into the house!" Vernon was close to yelling again. "What will they think now?"

"What do you want?" Petunia asked looking me sharply in the eye while ignoring her husband. "Did you come for the boy? I was told to keep him here."

"Harry," I nodded. "He has a name."

Petunia rolled his eyes. "How do I know you won't harm us?"

"If I was going to kill you, I would have already," I said as I peered up the stairs. "Is he upstairs?"

"Last door on the right," Petunia nodded. Her eyes were still looking at me like I was disgusting bug that needed to be squished quickly. I was contaminating her perfect, normal home with my tattoos and dangerous weapons.

I turned on my heel without another word and marched straight up the stairs. Vernon's voice yelled after me to stop, but I ignored him. As I disappeared to the second floor landing, I heard him say something harsh to Petunia who replied, "He has to stay," she said. "That's the end of it, Vernon."

I made my way down the narrow, floral wallpapered, hallway to the last door. I frowned deeply as my eyes fell on the numerous locks that were next to the door handle. I did not like that Harry was living in a place where his family neglected, disliked and locked him in his room. I knocked gently on the door, but there was no answer. I could hear muffled voices on the other side of the door. I knocked again, harsher this time, then heard shuffling around before someone came to the door, yanking it open.

"Cadence!" Harry Potter said in great surprise as he stared up at me with gleaming emerald green eyes. I sighed with some relief as I stepped forward and hugged him tightly around the shoulders. Harry hesitated before he returned my embrace. "Have you come to take me to your home?" he questioned instantly.

I pulled away with a frown and shook my head. I closed the bedroom door behind me as I stepped into the room. When I turned back to face Harry, he had pulled his wand out and was pointing it straight at my chest. I smirked slightly and bowed my head.

"Ask me a question that only I would know the answer to."

"How did we get to the Leaky Caldron the first night we met?"

"The Knight Bus," I replied. Harry nodded and dropped his wand hand to his side. He turned and threw his wand on the bed before looking at me again. "I'm proud that you thought to check who I was."

"What are you doing here?"

"I was asked to come make sure you were okay," I said folding my arms over my chest.

"Well I'm not," he retorted shortly as he sat on the edge of the bed. He glared at me while crossing his arms over his chest and kicking at the pile of books that sat on the floor next to the bed. "I need to get out of here—I don't know anything of what's been going on—is Voldemort active? What's he doing? What are we doing to stop him? What's the Ministry doing? Why am I being kept in the dark about these things? How much longer do I have to stay here, stuck in the Muggle world, with no contact from any of you in the real world?"

"Harry, we have all been given specific instructions not to discuss sensitive information with you," I said sadly. "You will know everything there is to know when we move you to head quarters."

"Head quarters?"

"Of the Order of the Phoenix," I replied remaining by the door. "We are working to fight my Father, but our progress has been slow because Voldemort hasn't been publicly active. It is still not common belief that he has returned. We're fighting two battles right now—against my Father and against the Ministry which is in complete denial about the situation."

My response did not look to relieve Harry at all.

"I don't understand why I have been kept here—"

"This is the safest place for you right now," I said quickly. "I know you don't like it here. I don't blame you, and if I could have it my way I would have never let you come back here, but Dumbledore thinks—"

"Who cares what he thinks," Harry raged jumping off the bed. "You're my godmother, my legal guardian! I should be with you."

"I'm afraid I can't take very good care of you, Harry," I frowned. "Our house was destroyed because Death Eaters are coming after Carrigan and I."

"She told me," Harry nodded in frustration.

I looked at him very carefully, studying his eyes as he frowned and looked at the wardrobe that I was standing next to. His stare quickly returned to me, pulling away from the wardrobe, but he looked guilty.

"You said no one has been in contact with you," I whispered, still studying him, waiting for his reaction. He frowned deeply and sighed with uneasiness. "Is Carrigan here?"

Harry didn't answer right away, but his eyes looked at the wardrobe again. I turned on my heel and yanked the wardrobe door open. Carrigan let out a yelp of surprise as I reached in and grabbed her small arm, dragging her forward out of the wardrobe. She was dressed in yoga pants and a long sleeve tee shirt. While I pulled her forward her back pack came toppling out of the wardrobe onto the floor.

"Mom!" she hissed like a snake being snatched from it's cool dark shadowy home.

"Carrigan!" I yelled her name with such anger the furniture in the room began to shake. Carrigan looked up at me with fearful midnight blue eyes. She had never looked afraid in my presences before, but she had also never run away before. "What did you think you were doing!"

"I just needed to get out," she said quickly as she threw her long brown locks out of her face. "I needed to get away from you, Dad and Benjamin—I just needed to get out."

I released her arm as I stood up straight, glaring at her with burning green eyes. My skin felt like it was on fire. I could not describe the anger that pumped through my system as I stared at my thirteen year old daughter. I was relieved that she was safe, but furious that she had done something so stupid.

"You should have asked to come see Harry."

"I didn't plan on coming to see Harry," Carrigan retorted with bite as she glared at me in return. "When I left I realized how stupid it was. But, I couldn't go back. I came here when I had no where else to go."

"How did you get here?" I asked sternly.

Carrigan didn't look me in the eye.

"Carrigan?"

She sighed before looking straight up at me. "I hitched a ride from a kid on a motorbike."

"Excuse me?"

"He was at a coffee shop in London, just up the street from Dad's place. I asked him if he could give me a ride."

My heart stopped beating for a few moments and sunk down into my stomach as I stared at my daughter in disbelief. I couldn't believe the amount of stupid things she had done in the last couple of hours.

"Why'd you hide in the wardrobe?"

"If my Aunt and Uncle found out I had a girl in my room," Harry whispered with a shake of his head. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I was trying to get her to write you."

"Thanks, Harry," Carrigan hissed with disapproval.

"Well, there's no point trying to lie to her," he said instantly. "She'd know if we were lying, Carri!"

"You didn't have to turn me over," Carrigan yelled harshly at her friend. She sighed with aggravation and turned away while shaking her head. She ran her hands through her messy brown hair then turned back to me. "You and Dad have to stop fighting. You both are being so ridiculous."

"I can't help that your Father is irrational," I said crossly. "And running away would not make us like each other, Carrigan. Running way does not solve any problems, you know that."

"I didn't run away to solve problems," she said marching towards me. "I ran away so I could think clearly for a few hours. I can't think in that house Mom! Between Benjamin prying into my mind every second and you and Dad fighting every hour, I can't think clearly. I had to get away so I could hear my own thoughts for once instead of everyone else's. Everyone would be safer if I wasn't around anyways since all those Death Eaters keep coming after _me_!"

"Carrigan," I sighed in pain. I pulled her into my arms as she looked up at me with angry, terrified midnight blue eyes. I cupped her cheek and stroked her hair behind her ear as I kissed her forehead. She wrapped her arms around me, clinging to me as quiet tears ran down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just—I know it was stupid. I shouldn't have gone…"

"It's alright," I replied stepping back and lifting her chin. "We all make mistakes, Carrigan. I completely understand wanting to run away."

"We both do," Harry said softly. Carrigan pulled out of my arms and looked at him with a weak smile. She quickly rubbed the tears from her pale cheeks before releasing a long sigh that broke my heart. She was still unhappy. She was still broken. Everything that had her so worried was still on her mind—her powers, the nightmares of me dying, Sirius and I fighting—I wished that I could take it all away. And I wished that running away really solved our problems, even my own.

"We should get back before Gabriel burns down all of London looking for you."

Carrigan laughed lightly and shook her head.

"You really should go," Harry nodded. "I'm pretty sure Gabriel is the type of guy to burn down a city looking for you."

"I'm sorry we can't take you with us," Carrigan said throwing her arms around Harry's shoulders. He looked at me with wide bewildered eyes. I shrugged with awkwardness, not sure what he should do. He carefully hugged her with some hesitation. "We'll come back soon, though. I know the Order will come to get you soon."

"They will," I said with a reassuring nod. Harry pulled out of Carrigan's arm as he nodded his head. He did not look happy though. I could see the frustration and rage gleaming in his eyes as he looked at me over his glasses. He pushed them up the bridge of his nose and nodded his head again, even though no one said anything. I didn't blame him for being mad. I would be mad too if I was trapped in a horrible house with no way of staying connected to the real world. I knew the frustration he felt. I had been kidnapped, held captive, and even kept on bed rest numerous times. I hate that. I knew that Harry hated it too and that is why he wanted to run away. We all just want to run away sometimes.


	9. Mitchell's Burden

"Carrigan!" Sirius yelled his daughter's name as we entered the basement kitchen. Carrigan frowned as she brushed her hair out of her face. She dropped her backpack at the base of the stairs and stepped forward as Sirius came to her. He looked angry, but relieved, much like I felt. He held her shoulders as his blue eyes stared at her crossly. "What the hell were you doing!"

"Running away," Carrigan said smartly to her father as she peered at him with a bored expression in her blue eyes.

Benjamin, Remus and Arthur Weasley were the only other people in the kitchen. I frowned slightly at the sight of the men of the house sitting up waiting for us to return. It was not that late, and I wondered what everyone else could be doing at that moment. The kids were probably just on edge as the adults about Harry's situation and Carrigan running away. Keeping them locked up in their rooms was not going to help anyone.

Benjamin laughed lightly as he rolled his eyes. He stood up from the table and headed for the stairs to escape the family feud that was about to ensue. He passed Carrigan as Sirius pulled away and continued to yell.

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard! You're thirteen years old! You don't know how to defend yourself! You could have been killed or kidnapped and tortured!"

Carrigan turned and grabbed Benjamin's wrist. She pulled his large muscular body around, twisted his arm behind his back and pinned him flat against the kitchen table. She held one of his arms straight away from him, far enough back that if she moved it an inch more she'd dislocate his shoulder. His other arm she had twisted flat against his back.

A horrible silence fell around the kitchen as Carrigan leaned against the seventeen-year-old man's back. Remus and Arthur both stood up in surprise and readiness, as if they would actually be able to stop Carrigan if they wanted to.

"Benjamin," she said calmly. "Do you think I can defend myself?"

"For the most part," Benjamin replied.

"Carrigan," I sighed as I frowned at her. I understood the point that Carrigan was trying to make, but it was unnecessary. Sirius was just worried about her, like any father would be.

Carrigan released Benjamin, allowing him to stand up straight. He let out a long sigh of frustration as he looked at her with crystal blue, icy hurt eyes. Carrigan held her breath as she looked up at Benjamin, the realization that she had hurt someone other then me and Sirius by running off was sinking in. She turned away from him quickly and looked at her father, who looked so livid that I thought the foundation would come tumbling down around us if he had physical powers like me or Carrigan.

"I didn't say it was smart," she said with her arms crossed over her chest. "But I'm home now, I'm safe. We can all relax."

"I'm not getting you your tattoo," Sirius returned, there was no shake to his voice.

"What?"

Carrigan's arms dropped to her side in shock while her eyes opened wide, taking in Sirius with the most hatred I had ever seen her generate.

"You have to be punished for acting irresponsibly," he retorted with a yell. "You are rash and immature. I will not be getting you a tattoo for your birthday next year."

"Sirius, I think your decision of punishment is a little rash," I said softly as I stepped forward. Sirius turned his glaring eyes to me, to silence me, but that had never worked before for him, so I pressed on. "This is the first time Carrigan has ever done something irresponsible. The first time she has ever acted out—"

"It doesn't matter!" Sirius yelled over me. "She has to take responsibility for her actions and the consequences that follow."

"For Merlin's sake she's thirteen years old!"

"Fine," Carrigan said, surprising everyone. I bit my bottom lip and crossed my arms over my chest after snipping at Sirius. She bent low and picked up her bag, then looked at Benjamin who was standing by the stairs. "Mom, can I go for a run if Benjamin comes with me?"

"No, absolutely not," Sirius interjected.

Carrigan forced a sarcastic, bitter smile at Sirius. "I asked Mom for a reason."

"Only if Benjamin is up for it," I replied, ignoring Sirius. I gave Carrigan a weak smile.

"Well, I'm not up for it," Benjamin said looking at me with a frown. There was a stony, cold, frank look in his eyes as he turned his head to Carrigan, who looked more then shocked by his words. "I've had a long day. It's mentally exhausting to spend the entire afternoon meditating and concentrating all of your physical and mental energy on finding your charge. I need to rest. I am not up for a run, Carrigan."

"Benjamin," she whispered sadly as she looked at him with pleading eyes. He turned and walked away, disappearing up the stairs. I frowned as I looked at Carrigan. I don't think I had ever seen her so devastated in my life. She looked broken and fearful; she was afraid that she had lost Benjamin, but I knew she hadn't. I knew that she would always have him, just like I always had Gabriel because of the bond we shared.

"Well," Carrigan looked at me and Sirius. "I guess I'll just go to bed."

She grabbed her bag off the floor and disappeared before another word could be said. I turned my glaring green eyes to Sirius, who was ready to glare straight back at me.

"Why would you let her go out after what she pulled today?"

"Running calms her down," I said. "You're lucky she didn't fight you on it. I'm actually quite surprised that she didn't. She ran away because she heard us earlier today, Sirius. She heard you in your drunken stupor yelling at Benjamin. She ran away because she isn't happy here. Running calms her down and right now, I want her to be calm and happy."

Sirius shook his head and looked at the floor as his hands rested on his hips. I was surprised by his silence, that he had nothing to say; but I guess there wasn't anything else to be said. Sirius and I had yelled so much at each other that there was nothing left to be yelled about between us. Obviously, we were never going to get along. The short period of civility we had last year was all we were going to get. We could not be around each other for long periods of time because we'd just fight.

"Where is Gabriel?" I asked as I looked at Remus and Arthur who were both still sitting at the kitchen table. Their eyes were peering down into the glasses that sat before them, like they were the most interesting things in the world, and they weren't trying to ease drop on the argument that had just occurred.

"We haven't seen him," Remus said looking up with a frown. "Dumbledore came by briefly and said that he was looking for Carrigan."

I frowned. Gabriel was probably still out looking for his goddaughter. I had to go out and find him. I nodded my head at Remus' comment then turned on my heel to leave the house.

"How is Harry?" Sirius asked. His voice was still touchy, but it was obvious that he was trying to control his anger.

"He's frustrated," I replied. "Which I can relate to. But overall he's fine. Carrigan was with him."

Sirius studied me for a few moments. He seemed surprised by the fact. "Why was she with him?"

"I think you should ask her that," I replied looking him sharply in the eye. "tomorrow, when you've both had a chance to cool your heads."

Sirius was glaring at me as footsteps could be heard coming down the kitchen steps. We all turned to see Gabriel Quintin appear. He was carrying a letter in his hands and looking grim. I frowned deeply as I went to him.

"Did you find Carrigan?" he questioned instantly as we stopped in front of each other.

"Yes," I said looking up at him with concern. His eyes, which had been brown earlier in the day, looked tired and faded. They were a shade of hazel now. A cross between brown and green, as if they were in transition of switching color. "She was with Harry. She just went up to bed."

Gabriel nodded his head as some relief washed over his face.

"Is something wrong, Gabriel?" Arthur asked at the kitchen table.

Gabriel looked to him with a face that was not trying to hide anything.

"Yes," he said. "Dumbledore gave me an assignment when he stopped by the Ministry today about Harry. I came back here because he sent new directions."

Gabriel was being vague because Dumbledore had probably told him to keep this assignment for the Order secret, even from other Order members. Dumbledore often asked Gabriel to do things that he didn't want many people knowing about…things of a questionable nature that used his skills as an assassin and former Death Eater.

"Do you want me to go with you?" I asked very carefully. I was prepared for him to tell me no. Dumbledore had given him this assignment for a reason, and I wasn't sure how Gabriel would feel about me (his wife) coming with him. We had yet to go into the field together since our marriage was officiated.

I was asking to go because I was worried about Persephone's prophecy from earlier in the year. She had foreseen Gabriel's death before the end of the summer. She had specifically said that when Voldemort returned Gabriel would die, but his return had come and past and Gabriel was still here. I was worried that I had missed something. That somehow, Gabriel was not safe.

"Yes, I need your help," Gabriel said looking at me. I was relieved that I would not have to fight him on the matter. "I'm sorry I can not be more open with you all."

"We understand," Remus said with a bow of his head. "Dumbledore asked you for a reason."

"I just need to change," I said. "Good night everyone."

"Be safe, Cadence," Sirius said in a shallow tone as he gripped the kitchen table next to him. I glanced at him with sad eyes. He was looking at me with fearful midnight blue eyes. I recognized the fear from the years we had been in love—it was the look of a man who was afraid he was losing everything. I bowed my head to him before heading up the stairs. I could hear Gabriel following me.

When we reached the third floor landing, I was surprised when the door to the girls' bedroom opened. Carrigan stepped out into the hall in her pajama shorts and tank top, with her arms crossed tightly over her chest; the purpose in her step made me wonder how long she had been waiting for us to come upstairs.

"Hi," she said awkwardly. I paused and looked her over.

"Something the matter?"

"I wondered if I could speak to Gabriel for a moment," she whispered as she looked away from me to her godfather. Gabriel was standing on the step just below the landing behind me. I looked at him and shrugged my shoulders, unsure of what Carrigan could want.

"Absolutely," Gabriel said extending his hand to Carrigan. He touched her elbow gently, with an affectionate pinch. Then he held out the letter from Dumbledore to me. "Read this. I'll meet you in the foyer in a few moments."

I nodded my head as I took the letter.

"Where are you two going?" Carrigan asked quickly as she glanced between us.

"On an errand," I replied stepping forward and kissing her forehead. "I love you."

Carrigan's eyes were full of worry as I stepped back. She grabbed my arm abruptly. "Please, be very careful. I may not be a Seer, but I am having dreams of your death for a reason."

"I know," I whispered softly. "But we're strong girls, Carrigan."

"The strongest," Carrigan nodded with a weak smile. I returned the jester before patting her hand on my arm and pulling away. I gave Gabriel a glance before moving up the stairs.

"Let's go to the library," Gabriel suggested to Carrigan as I walked away.

"Alright," she said and I heard the bedroom door close behind her. I looked over my shoulder as I mounted the next set of steps to the fourth floor of bedrooms to see Gabriel and Carrigan walking down the hall to the library for some privacy.

I opened the letter from Dumbledore as I walked into the bedroom. I gently closed the door behind me before pulling the letter out of the envelope. I stood next to the door while I read the short note carefully. I sighed with some aggravation. This note did not explain anything of what Dumbledore had asked Gabriel to do.

_Despite what we discussed before, I have learned that the details have changed. Stop by the Leaky Caldron for a drink tonight._

I folded the note up and returned it to the envelope. I took my wand from my boot and lit the paper with the tip of my wand. Carefully, I held the corner as the paper burned brightly before me. I sighed as the ash fell to the floor. When the paper was completely engulfed, I released it, dropping it to the ground. With another flick of my wand water poured on the miniature fire on my bedroom floor. The wet mess of ash on the bedroom floor stained the wood and made the room stink. I flicked my wand for the third time and the mess disappeared without a hitch. Returning my wand to my boot, I turned to the wardrobe and dug through my clothing looking for a black shirt to wear. Once I found a long sleeve black blouse, I changed my clothes for the night on the town I was about to spend with Gabriel.

When I arrived in the foyer of the house, it was empty and barely lit. A single candle sat on the windowsill, burning dully on the short wick. I crossed my arms over my chest and peered out the window as I waited for Gabriel to join me. I hoped that Carrigan was finally opening up to someone about the stresses she was under. Obviously, she had discussed things with Harry earlier that day when she ran off, but she was still troubled. The first step to recovery was discussing her problems. Carrigan was a very rational girl, despite her young age, and while she was going through a lot—physically, mentally and emotionally—I knew that she would logically find a solution to manage her problems.

I turned when I heard Gabriel coming down the steps. He looked calm and docile. Carrigan knew she could go to him for anything, and it was clearly written all over his face that she had him wrapped around her finger. I smirked as he approached me, wondering what kind of a father he would have been to the son we lost. There was no doubt in my mind that he'd be an amazing and honorable father, but would our boy be able to play Gabriel's heart strings as easily as Carrigan?

"Everything is alright?"

"Yes," Gabriel nodded as his hands rested on my hips. "Although, she is very worried about us going out tonight."

"Because of these dreams?"

"Not just those. She reminded me of Persephone's prophecy," he said very slowly as his hand moved to my cheek. His fingertips stroked my jaw smoothly. "I know that's why you asked to come."

"You can't change your mind. You said you needed my help. I'm going with you."

"I wouldn't dream of trying to change your mind, darling," he laughed. "You're more stubborn then Carrigan. I _know_ there is no way to stop you from coming with me tonight."

"Good. Let's go then."

I turned and made for the front door. Gabriel followed me out onto the dark quiet courtyard of Grimmauld Place. He closed the door to Number Twelve tightly behind him before fixing his coat and descending the stairs to meet me on the sidewalk.

"The Leaky Caldron?"

"Dumbledore told me about a meeting," he said looking up and down the street. "between some Death Eaters. He's not sure why it's so important, but for Snape to hear about it at a meeting, then we know it's important."

"What if my Father is onto Snape?" I questioned after pondering what Gabriel had said. "What if this is a trap?"

"That's a risk we're going to have to take," Gabriel shrugged. I didn't like that answer.

"Any ideas about who the Death Eaters are?"

"No," Gabriel said. "Don't know why they're meeting either. Come on, I'll Apparate us."

I didn't object as Gabriel wrapped me in his arms snuggly. I laid my head on his chest and closed my eyes tight, concentrating on clearing my mind so we would not be splinched as he Apparated us to the other side of London. The feeling of being squished through a tight tube then pulled apart, stretched, and squished again was sickening. I clenched my jaw as we traveled through space, our bodies pressed fiercely against each other, invading each other's personal space. When are feet hit solid ground I released a sigh of relief.

"Still don't like that?" Gabriel asked quietly.

I pulled out of his arms and shook my head as I covered my mouth with my hand. I frowned and fought every desire to vomit.

"I'll never like it," I replied peering around the quiet alley we had Apparated into. We were in the alley behind the buildings across the street from the Leaky Caldron. I stepped towards the end of the alley to peer out at the Muggle street. It was late enough to not be very busy with evening traffic. Gabriel came up along side me.

"Reminds me of that time Sirius asked me what your pant size is for a security question."

I laughed lightly. "How things have changed."

"Not really," Gabriel said looking down at me. "I still know your pant size and I bet you he still doesn't like that."

I rolled my eyes at his cheeky response. In the silence, Gabriel playfully smacked my butt with his open palm. I jumped with surprise and looked up at him with raised eyebrows.

"Let's go," he said cocking his head towards the Muggle street. I followed him easily, taking his hand as we walked down the sidewalk, so it looked like we were a couple on a date.

"What's your plan?" I whispered.

"We're going to get a drink," Gabriel said leading me across the street as he checked traffic. When we reached the doors of the Leaky Caldron, which looked like an old abandoned pub on the outside, Gabriel opened the door carefully for me and motioned for me to enter first. I stepped in, thanking him, and took in the dark busy pub.

It was loud inside, despite the abandoned front put up to keep Muggles away. There were people crowded into tables, booths and at the bar. I had never seen the pub so busy. I looked at Gabriel who motioned to two open seats at the bar. I pushed my way through the witches, wizards, hags and goblins to reach the bar.

"What can I get you?" asked the witch who was behind the bar pouring drinks for two goblins on high stools next to me.

"I'll have a shot of fire whiskey," I said.

"Same," Gabriel said with a nod and pulling out his coins. He dropped enough for the two shots on the counter, and extra for the bartender. She poured us the liquor, collected her coins, then moved away, ready to attend to other thirsty patrons.

"What are we doing, if we don't know who we're looking for?" I questioned looking up at Gabriel.

"I have a feeling we'll know who we're looking for when we see them," he responded to my quick comment. "Dumbledore said to get a drink—let's drink." He clinked the edge of his shot glass to mine and downed his shot. I looked around the crowded pub before taking my shot with my head tipping back. As I sat back up straight, placing the shot glass upside down on the bar counter, a familiar face caught my eye. I grabbed Gabriel's arm and quickly turned so that my back was to the pub. Gabriel looked down at me with raised eyebrows, worried that something peculiar was happening.

"What is wrong?" he whispered in my ear as he leaned down.

"Mitchell is across the bar," I motioned over my shoulder. Gabriel looked over my head discreetly as his hand rested on my back. He pretended to lean in and kiss my ear, keeping up with the act of being a couple on a date, and spoke.

"We weren't able to spare a tail on him. Is it possible he just hasn't left the country yet?"

"He made it seem he was getting out of here as fast as possible. Who is he talking to?"

"No one," Gabriel replied.

"I can go up to him—"

"—no."

"If we weren't together and were still partners wouldn't you come say hi to me if you saw me in a bar?"

"It depends on your company."

"If I was alone?" I insisted.

"Yes, if you were alone, I would. But if you were being greeted by a man in a black suit with a scar over his eye, then no. No, I'd stay on my stool at the bar."

I turned slightly to look across the bar at the corner booth where I had spotted Mitchell Scott sitting to see a man sliding into the seat next to him. The man that had taken the seat looked forbidding; dark and dangerous, dressed completely in black, with jet black slicked back hair and a greasy goatee. His skin was as pale as snow and he appeared to have a long ugly scar on his left eye, like Gabriel had said.

"Well no, if that guy was sitting down to talk to me I wouldn't think you'd come over either," I retorted.

Gabriel smiled and kissed my forehead. "Let's just play it cool and keep an eye on him. He may not be the one we're looking for."

"So, it's just coincidence that he's here?"

"Of course not," he responded. "You know I don't believe in coincidences."

I smiled. "I'm going over there. Play it cool. I would go over to say hi to my partner, whether he was alone or not."

Gabriel rolled his eyes as I hopped off my stool and started to weave through the crowded pub towards Mitchell's seat. His amber eyes fell on me almost immediately, as if he knew I was coming. I smiled at him and continued through the crowd. The dark haired man, with the scar, glared viciously at Mitchell before standing up and moving away from the table. I followed him with my eyes and saw him heading for the back of the Leaky Caldron, where witches and wizards could pass into Diagon Alley.

_Got him,_ Gabriel's voice rang quietly in my head with Legilimency. I glanced at the back door and saw him following the man dressed in black. I reached the table Mitchell was sitting at and slid into the seat next to him.

"Cadence," he said with a long, annoyed sigh.

"Hello Mitch," I smiled as he looked down at his glass and took the last gulp of his drink. "I thought you were taking a vacation."

"I'm leaving in a few minutes."

"With your friend? I'm sorry I scared him off."

"Gabriel won't be able to find him," Mitchell said instantly with a soft glare at me. "And you should leave him be. You should go now, Cadence."

"Why?" I whispered very slowly.

"You don't know what you're getting involved with."

"I'm pretty sure I do," I responded quickly. "Mitch, if my Father has come after you, I can help. I will help you."

"No, you can't help me with my burden."

"What could be so bad?"

Mitchell looked pained. His hands were clutching his mug of ail with white knuckles. He looked unsure and nervous. Before either of us could exchange another word a loud explosion erupted through the pub, tearing the walls of the Leaky Caldron open. People, food, wood and other forms of debris flew everywhere as the shockwave from the explosion spread through the crowded pub. I ducked down under the table as Mitchell dived out of the booth, apparently trying to use the explosion as a diversion for his escape. It didn't phase me though. I jumped out from under the table as smoke and dust filled the air and grabbed onto Mitchell's ankle so he couldn't get away.

"Cadence!" he shouted at me. "Get off!"

Another explosion plowed through the Leaky Caldron, causing more screams and hysteria. I pulled back as stakes of wood flew at me like sharp daggers ready to stab the life from me. I covered my face and ducked under the table again. Something sharp grazed my stomach, causing me to convex in with sharp agony. I clamped my arm to my side as the debris tumbled around me. Looking down, I saw blood soaking into my blouse, causing me to curse with annoyance. The cacophony in the pub died down within moments of the second explosion. I sat up straight, threw the disheveled tabled top off me and attempted to stand up. I fumbled against the bench seat of the booth that was covered in dust and loose shards of wood. With my arm still pinched against my side to keep pressure on my stomach, I kicked the table away from me. Mitchell's body lay before me, covered in fallen beams from the ceiling of the pub. I stood completely dumbfounded as I stared at his mutilated body beneath the planks of wood. Mitchell Scott was dead.

In the depths of my center I knew that the explosions were meant to kill him, or be a distraction allowing an assassin to kill him. Obviously, what ever burdened my partner was enough to get him killed. My insides were twisting with discomfort at the thought of what Mitchell could have been caught up in. Like father, like son. The burden of evil and deception ran in his family.

I frowned deeply as I took in the sight of the destroyed pub around me. Complete bedlam had erupted in the pub. Thankfully, the front of the Leaky Caldron that faced the Muggle street was intact, but the back of the pub leading to Diagon Alley was destroyed. My heart dropped into my stomach. Gabriel had been following the man Mitchell was meeting to the back of the pub when the explosion occurred.


	10. More then Words

As the dust began to settle around the destroyed pub, people began to emerge from the debris with confusion and terror written across their faces. Once they managed to get to their feet the patrons desperately raced for the door trying to escape the aftermath that would ensue once the Ministry arrived. I tumbled forward, dropping to one knee next to Mitchell and felt for a pulse. There was none. I leaned over him and listened for his breath while placing my hand on his chest. Still nothing. I sat back with a frustrated sigh before standing up and stepping over his body.

My side ached in agonized pain as I stood up. I looked down at the would on my side. Something sharp, a piece of wood or even free flying metal, had sliced open my side. My blouse was cut open and blood was sweeping down my side. The wound was not deep; it was only bad enough to be an annoyance as I moved through the war-zone that was once the Leaky Caldron.

People were scurrying past me like rats fleeing a fire. Other bodies lie unmoved, clearly dead from the destruction. My mind raced as I tried to reach the back of the pub, towards the entrance to Diagon Alley. My Father had not made one public display of his existence, it didn't seem very feasible that he would start to do so now. He was using the Ministry's ignorance to his advantage. But who else would have caused such an explosion? Was Mitchell the target of an assassin? And if he was, why the hell did someone want to kill him? What was he tangled up in?

I kicked boxes of chips and peanuts out of the way as I made my way down a half collapsed corridor to the exit of the pub. There was a crowd of people forming outside in Diagon Alley staring in wonder and confusion at the blown out wall of the Leaky Caldron. I frowned because I could see them. When I managed to stumble out onto the cobblestone street, I looked around frantically for Gabriel, but he was no where to be found.

"Gabriel!" I shouted as I kicked back a door that used to serve as the exit of the Leaky Caldron. "Gabriel!"

Nothing. No response. I knew it didn't mean much to be screaming his name. There was complete chaos surrounding me. People on the street talking and screaming at the sight, the Ministry staff appearing for cleaning up, people lying injured or running off to avoid questions.

"Cadence!" someone's voice was calling me, but I could barely hear. My mind was completely focused on trying to find Gabriel. But I had no idea where he had gone when following the man in black with the scar. I turned to the voice that was screaming my name, in hopes that it was Gabriel. He would be just as worried about me as I was be about him.

It wasn't Gabriel calling me. It was Alastor Moody. He was stalking towards me with a severe limp as his magical blue eye zipped around in its socket, taking in the war-time appearance of the destroy pub and street.

"Mad-Eye!" I said in surprise. What was he doing here?

"Came with the Ministry," Moody said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me down off a pile of rubble that I had been searching under. He pulled me close to his gnarled face to whisper in my ear. "Dumbledore said you and Gabriel were here for Order business—what the hell happened?"

"I was talking with Scott," I replied instantly while trying to fight off the hysteria that was about to set in because I could not find Gabriel. "Gabriel and I saw him meet up with a suspicious looking man. Gabriel went after the man and I went to Scott. Just as Scott was telling me to stay out of it because I couldn't help him the place blew up!"

"Where is Scott?"

"Dead."

"And Gabriel?"

"I don't know," I hissed pulling out of Moody's grasp. His knurled fingers released me with a tight pinch. "I have to find him—Persephone's prophecy hasn't come true yet—_but he can't be dead!"_

I wouldn't believe it. I wouldn't let myself even think that Gabriel was dead until I found him that way.

"Cadence," Moody caught my arm again, gripping me tight to get my attention. I looked at him with scornful eyes because he was hindering my search for Gabriel. "Concentrate."

Both of his eyes, beady black and large laser blue, stared directly at me as if he were trying to penetrate my mind with Legilimency. I had never known Moody to be capable of Legilimency. He had cruder ways of finding someone's secrets.

The single word was all he needed to say to remind me of what I was capable of. Searching the rubble for Gabriel was pointless and inefficient. I could find him with my mind.

I turned away from Moody, letting my arm slip from his grip, and closed my eyes tightly to concentrate despite the masses of people surrounding me. It was harder then I had anticipated. I couldn't remember the last time I had to channel Gabriel or use my powers. I clenched my jaw and tried to breath. I had to focus.

His heart was pounding. I could hear the rhythm of his heart in my ears as if it were my own. He was close, but fading. I wasn't sure if he was unconscious or if we was dying. I bit my bottom lip with fear. I took a slow breath as I called to Gabriel with my mind. I whispered his name, gently and calmly.

_Gabriel, answer me._

I was pleading for him to hear me; praying that I would be able to find him. He made no reply with Legilimency but I could still feel his presence. He was close. I just had to find him.

I opened my eyes and stepped forward through the rubble from the explosion. Gabriel's heartbeat was still ringing in my ears, but it was soft as if it were fading. I kicked a door that had been blown off it's hinges out of my way as I stumbled. I closed my eyes to hear his heartbeat more closely. I wiped my eyes as tears leaked down my cheeks. Fear was taking over my entire body.

This was not how it was supposed to end. Gabriel was not supposed to die in an explosion—he was meant for a greater death. And I had done what Persephone told me. I had become more independent. I had become my own master so that I was not as dependent on Gabriel. I recalled Persephone's prophecy as if I had only heard it yesterday, not over seven months ago. Gabriel was to die before the summer was over if I could not become more independent of him. If he died, I would be forced to protect a powerful child on my own.

I stopped dead as my foot crunched on the remains of a broken barstool. My eyes popped open with realization and my skin crawled with discomfort. I thought I was going to be sick.

I could be pregnant now. We had forgotten to use a condom not even a week ago. Everything from Persephone's prophecy was coming true.

I shuttered as something caught my eyes. Legs, wearing black pants, were sticking out from under a flipping over table. I rushed forward, almost tripping on debris in front of me, and tried to lift the table with my hands, but it was too heavy. I stepped back and swung my arm wildly away from my body. The table launched across the wreckage, breaking as it collapsed a few hundred feet away near some Ministry workers who let out cries of surprise.

"Gabriel!"

I cried out as I fell to my knees next to his handsome, but disheveled, body. He wasn't moving, but his eyes opened slightly when I called his name. I grabbed his hand as relief washed over my body, then leaned forward and kissed his lips passionately. He kissed me in return, but still did not move his body. I pulled away and held his face as the tears of happiness continued to leak down my face.

"We're going to get you out of here," I stammered.

Gabriel didn't say anything. There was blood stains leaking from his ears down to his collarbone. His clothing were ripped and dirty, covered in black dust. I sank back as my hands touched his bloody stomach. He groaned in agony as I touched the sensitive skin. His torso looked as if his flesh had been melted off. The only thing protecting his muscles from dirt and debris was his blood stained shirt.

I turned away, looking over my shoulder.

"Moody!" I screamed.

Mad-Eye came trotting over the pile of debris I had disappeared behind. He was leaning on his walking stick and walked with stiffness. He was getting to be too old to be in the field.

I turned back to Gabriel. He was staring up at me with dark blue eyes, a different shade then earlier that day. I smiled at his eyes, despite the fear that was rising again in my body because he was badly injured.

"Bloody hell," Moody said when he reached us and looked over Gabriel, who still hadn't said anything. "Better get him to St. Mungo's."

Moody pointed his wand at a stray shoe that was near us, muttering a spell I could barely hear because I was so focused on Gabriel in front of me. His eyes hadn't left mine.

_I'm fine,_ he said into my head with Legilimency. I smiled to hear his voice, even if it was in my head.

"You're not fine, otherwise you'd be talking out loud."

He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but he coughed instead. His mouth and throat were dry from lying in the rubble of the explosion.

"What happened?" I asked.

Gabriel's eyes moved around, trying to take in the surrounding destruction. They came back to me, but before he could tell me what happened with Legilimency, Moody motioned for me to take the shoe.

"It's a portkey. It will take you to St. Mungo's. Someone will be along from the Ministry to report what we've found here."

"And the Order?" I whispered over my shoulder.

"I'm sure Dumbledore is already on his way to St. Mungo's."

"Thank you," I said. I looked at Gabriel and squeezed his hand. He squeezed it in return and bowed his head slowly, to show that he was ready. He closed his eyes and I closed mine as I grabbed hold of the dusty shoe.

The violent pull on my body always caught me by surprise. I bit my bottom lip as the portkey sent us bending through space until we hit solid ground in the St. Mungo's waiting room. Gabriel cried out in pain as we hit the floor harshly. Someone raced forward, in a white blur, to my side as I sat up and tried to regain my composure from the physically altering journey.

"What happened?" asked a female healer with long straight brown hair and amber eyes. I frowned for a moment, feeling as if I was going to vomit.

"An explosion," I muttered before covering my mouth. I turned away from Gabriel and the healer and vomited on the tile floor behind us. The two people sitting in chairs nearest to me both make disgusted noises, as if they had never seen vomit before. I choked and coughed once it was over before whipping my mouth on the back of my hand and looking back at Gabriel. His hand was still in mind, clutching to me tightly. His eyes had opened and he was looking at me with sympathy.

The healer was calling other people over to help her get Gabriel onto a gurney. I could barely hear the noise and commotion around us. The only thing that mattered was Gabriel, as I leaned forward and looked into his eyes.

_You're not going to kiss me now that you've thrown up, are you?_

I laughed lightly as I sat back, beaming at him. He was smiling at me with his gleaming blue eyes.

"Ma'am, if you could please let go of him, we need to get him into the emergency room," said the female healer who had reached us first. I released Gabriel's hand with hesitation as someone helped me up. Once Gabriel was on the gurney, I stepped forward and took his hand again.

He opened his mouth to speak, but coughed heavily. I touched his cheek.

"Don't speak," I whispered. "Save your energy."

"I love you," he choked the words in my ear. His voice was so dry I could barely hear him, but I knew what he had said. I smiled and kissed his neck. When he said those words, they meant so much more then just words. They defined our entire existence. Gabriel was my soul mate and for him to love me, the same way that I loved him, meant more to me then anything else.

"I love you too," I whispered before I had to release his hand because the healers were pulling him away on the gurney. I felt as though I was in shock as I stood staring at the swinging doors that they had disappeared behind. The doors swung back and forth as I stood stock still staring at them. My black clothing was soaked in Gabriel's blood, and some of my own.

I delicately touched my side with discomfort because my wound was still bleeding. I had forgotten about it once I started searching for Gabriel. Now that I had him, and he was safe, all of the pain that was scattered across my body began to return. The adrenaline had stopped pumping; I was no longer numb to my injuries. Suddenly, everything hurt—every joint, every limb. I felt as though a pile of bricks had been dropped on me. Without warning, I become very dizzy. Despite standing still, I started to fall. The world was twisting around me as my vision blurred. I felt the harsh solid ground as I hit it, then everything seemed to fade…my vision…the voices yelling for help…


	11. Just Words

It felt like days had passed when I opened my eyes to the dark ward. My entire body was groaning in pain; every muscle, every bone and joint. My hand immediately went to my side, where my body seemed to hurt the most, and felt the tender tissue on my torso. It was tightly wrapped in bandages.

"I'm surprised you're awake already," said a soft female voice. I turned to the opposite side of the bed and saw a healer entering the ward. She flicked her wand at the lamps mounted on the wall. Light filled the room, casting new shadows in hidden corners.

"Why?" I asked dryly. "Can you tell me about my husband, the man I came in with?"

"He's still being worked on," she replied calmly as she stood next to my bed. "You've only been here for a few hours. I've been sent in to tell you to go home and get some rest."

"Are you crazy? I can't go home…not when Gabriel is…" My voice faded and I laid back on the bed with an exacerbated sigh. My heart was pounding in my chest as the healer tried to calm me.

"Ms. Coleman," she said gently. I looked up at her dark brown almond shaped eyes. She took my hand with her pale one and gave it a firm squeeze. "I'm sure your husband will be fine. Professor Dumbledore is here, waiting to speak to you."

"Thank you," I whispered politely. "You can let Dumbledore in."

The healer nodded and pulled away from me. I sat up slowly in the bed as she exited the ward, holding the door open to allow Albus Dumbledore in. He appeared to glide in because of his long maroon robes. He bowed his head as he took a seat next to my bed.

"How are you feeling, Cadence?"

"I don't know," I responded. "Gabriel is…he might…I don't know."

"Gabriel is being taken care of. However, your daughter has sent me so many owls requesting information I'm afraid that someone will discover where headquarters is."

I frowned. "You think I should go home as well?"

"Just to talk to Carrigan."

"I don't know what I'll say to her. I don't even know what's wrong with Gabriel—"

"He has extensive internal damage to his organs and they're repairing his eardrums."

I sighed with discomfort and looked away from Dumbledore. He took my hand quickly and squeezed it. "Carrigan is not just worried about Gabriel. She is worried about you as well. I suggest you go home to comfort her, put her worries at ease as much as you can and then return here."

I glanced at Dumbledore. "Persephone had a vision of Gabriel's death…and I'm afraid I'm pregnant."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment. He folded his hands on his lap and peered at me over his half-moon glasses.

"What are the chances you'll carry the child to term, if you are in fact pregnant?"

"I won't," I shook my head. "And if by some miracle I do, I will be left to raise a possible monster alone."

"I doubt your child would be a monster."

"I doubt Braven thought Haiden would turn into a foreseeing Death Eater."

"This stress and worry is not good for your body, Cadence. Ease your mind. Worrying does not help the problem; it does not provide a solution. Go home and tell Carrigan what Gabriel's status is. When he is better you can deal with the possible pregnancy."

"What if he dies while I'm gone?" my voice could barely say the words because they hurt so badly. The idea that I may never see Gabriel's smiling face and color-changing eyes again terrified me, and to say it aloud made it all the more real.

"He could die now and you wouldn't know it until you got back," Dumbledore said sadly. It was a horrible thing to say, but I understood his point.

"How many letters has Carrigan sent?"

Dumbledore reached into his robes and pulled out a thick stack of letters. He laid them on the bed and I frowned deeply. Carrigan must have sent a letter every twenty minutes. There were at least twenty of them on the bed. I frowned deeply and shook my head while delicately picking up one of the letters.

"I need to go to Number Twelve," I said with mild annoyance before looking up at Dumbledore. He gave me a weak smile.

"I will remain here while you go attend to your daughter," he said. "Gabriel and I will be waiting when you return."

I started to get out of the bed, moving slowly because my body ached and my side pinched in pain. Dumbledore stood up as I stood on the opposite side of the bed. I adjusted the white tee shirt the healers had changed me into and sighed loudly while I paused and held my torso.

"Cadence? Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yea," I replied easily. "I'll be back."

I didn't give Dumbledore a second glance before Apparating straight from the ward. Apparation was not the wisest form of travel. When my feet hit the ground in Grimmauld Place, my stomach rolled and ached more painfully. The only reason I didn't throw up again was because I had vomited everything out of my stomach when Gabriel and I arrived at St. Mungo's. I sighed as I mounted the steps to Number Twelve and quietly pushed opened the front door. It was dark and quiet in the entrance of the house. I shivered as the eerie chill of the house settled into my bones. There was a faint flickering light coming from the basement kitchen, which didn't surprise me. If anyone was awake they would be sitting in the kitchen.

I was not surprised to find Carrigan awake in the kitchen waiting for me. It was about five in the morning when I arrived, she would have been up about to go for a run even if worry had not kept her up all night. Sirius and Remus were sitting in the kitchen with her, which did surprise me. I didn't think Sirius, of all people, would be sitting up worried about Gabriel Quintin. But as I studied him and Carrigan, I realized that is worry was probably not for Gabriel but for Carrigan and perhaps me.

Sirius sat right next to his daughter holding her hand as she leaned on his shoulder with red tear-stained eyes. Remus stood on the opposite side of the table pouring tea into cups; no doubt it was not the first pot of tea made that morning. All eyes turned to me when I descended into the kitchen.

"Mom!" Carrigan said jumping up when I entered the kitchen, the floorboards of the stairs squeaking under my feet. She dashed across the room into my arms. Her messy brown curls flew behind her as she moved to me. She clung to me, as if she thought I had also been seriously injured in the explosion and was close to death. Sirius stood up and waited for us next to the table. I frowned at his worried expression.

"Are you alright?" Carrigan questioned pulling away. "We've been worried sick! And no one would tell us what was going on! For all we knew you could have been dead!"

"Now you know how we felt yesterday when you ran off," I whispered with a frank smile.

Carrigan gave me a hard look as she crossed her arms over her small chest. She was staring at me intently with her father's eyes. I couldn't help but smile at her. She uncrossed her arms only long enough to throw her brown locks over her shoulder. Sirius stepped forward and placed his hands on Carrigan's shoulders lightly. He was smiling at me with wicked wild eyes that matched his daughter's perfectly.

"We've already had that discussion," he replied. "Good of you to teach her a lesson."

I laughed lightly. "It was not intentional."

"Lessons never are," Carrigan said. "How is Gabriel? Moody didn't say much when he stopped by, only that you had to take him to St. Mungo's."

"Let your mother sit down, Carri," Sirius said softly once he kissed her forehead. I raised my eyebrows at him with some surprise. They had made up quickly, putting the argument from earlier in the day behind them.

"Would you like some tea, Cadence?" Remus asked as I moved to the table and sat down slowly. I moved limberly, with hesitation and awkwardness. Once I was sitting, Remus placed a cup of tea in front of me. "Anything to eat?"

"No thank you," I whispered.

"Please, how is Gabriel?" Carrigan asked again as she sat down next to me. Her eyes were pleading to know how her godfather was doing.

I sighed as I looked from Sirius to Carrigan's worried eyes. "He's fine."

"Fine?" she questioned impatiently. "What does that mean? He's going to make it right?"

"They don't know yet," I whispered sadly.

"What?" The answer did not satisfy Carrigan. "How can they not know?"

"Carrigan," I said her name softly as I turned away. I picked up the cup of tea and drank it slowly so I wouldn't have to answer her. I was scared to repeat everything Dumbledore had told me. Saying the words out loud made it all the more real. The fact that Gabriel may not survive terrified me, and I wasn't sure I wanted to strike that fear in Carrigan when she was obviously already afraid. "He was in the room where the bomb, or whatever set off the explosion, was. He couldn't move when I found him. He was thrown away from the explosion. He's lucky he wasn't incinerated. He has extensive internal damage and they think he's lost his hearing. They only know that he is fine because he is still alive. That's all the answers I have right now."

"Cadence."

It was Sirius who spoke, surprising me again. "Go to him," he said once I turned to look at him. "Go and wait with him. We will be fine here."

"No we won't!" Carrigan stammered as her eyes filled with tears again. "I won't. Persephone's prophecy can't be true. It just can't."

I reached across the table and snatched Carrigan's hands into mine. I squeezed them tightly as I peered into her eyes. Her lip quivered as tears welled into her eyes. I stood up and pulled her out of her chair into my arms. She began to sob against my chest, making my eyes fill with tears. I brushed her hair in an attempt to calm her.

"Carrigan," I said her name softly. "Everyone must die at some point. If it is Gabriel's time we will carry on. But let's not worry about that yet. We have to stay strong so that he can get better. He will get better."

Sirius was looking at me with doubtful, sad eyes. I bit my bottom lip as I continued to hold my thirteen year old daughter. The fear that pumped inside of me was not just for Gabriel, but for Carrigan. If it was Gabriel's time, if he was going to die, I was afraid it would break her. She would never come back from that.

"I'm going to head back to St. Mungo's," I whispered in her ear.

"Can I come with you?"

"No," I shook my head. "Not yet. As soon as Gabriel is ready to see people I will send a message for Benjamin to bring you."

Carrigan frowned up at me and there was a hint of anger in her blue eyes, but it didn't phase me.

"Alright," she replied, despite the desire I knew she had to argue.

"Get some rest," I whispered before kissing her forehead. Carrigan didn't say a word as she walked out of the kitchen. Once she had disappeared I looked up at Sirius.

"Is it worse then you said?" he asked.

"Everything I said was true," I replied. "I just tried not to make sound as bad as it is."

"How bad is the internal damage?" asked Remus.

"I-I don't know," I said honestly as I returned to my seat and put my head in my hands. "Dumbledore just told me there was internal damage."

"He's a strong man," Sirius said as he rubbed my shoulders to comfort me. "I'm sure he'll pull through."

"Except that Persephone had a prophecy that he would die before the summer is over."

"Not all of her prophecies come true."

"I hope this one doesn't," I said quickly. "If Gabriel dies that means I'm pregnant. And I can't have another child."

Neither man said a word to my ambiguous comment. I looked between the both of them, they looked slightly uncomfortable.

"I physically cannot," I whispered, hoping to ease their discomfort. "But I don't think I can emotionally handle it either."

"You're not seventeen anymore, Cadence. You've raised a wonderful daughter. I'm sure you could raise another child," Remus said with encouragement.

"Not Gabriel's child," I shook my head. "The child would be too powerful."

Sirius frowned. "If you are, we will work it out. You are not alone, Cadence. You never have been."

I forced a smile at Sirius. It was sweet of him to say such things, but to me they were just words with no meaning. I had been alone for sometime when I was with him. Sirius didn't know it, but he often made me feel very alone, even now. I would never say these things out loud because I didn't want to hurt him anymore then I already had, but it was true. Nothing Sirius Black could say would ever comfort my pain.

I thanked him politely and stood up from the table. Before I returned to St. Mungo's I wanted to change my clothing. The white tee shirt was starting to itch and irritate my skin. I lumbered up the stairs slowly, dragging my fingertips against the wall as my mind wondered and worried. When I reached the top landing, I paused outside of Benjamin's bedroom door. Sirius was kind enough to give him his own room away from the Weasley boys. I knocked gently on the door and patiently waited as Benjamin fumbled around in the room. I had no doubt woken him.

"Cadence," he said with surprise when he opened the bedroom door. He stood before me in a pajama pants and a man's tank top. His Mohawk was longer now, and messy from sleeping. "How did everything go?"

"Not well," I said very slowly. "Gabriel is still at St. Mungo's and I am about to return there. Carrigan…" My voice faded for a moment as I looked away from Benjamin's crystal blue eyes. He didn't say anything while he studied me with calm, patient eyes. I looked back up at him with a sigh. "She is not doing well. I just sent her back to bed, but she has been up all night worrying. Please, keep an eye on her. She probably won't want to train today, but she should. She needs to be distracted."

"I understand," Benjamin nodded. "It's very bad?"

"It's not good," I whispered. I patted his shoulder before turning away and moving down the hall to my bedroom. I closed the door tightly behind me before I pulled off the white tee shirt. I stripped down, wanting to put all fresh clothes on. I needed to get the bloody, dirty pants off me. I pulled new clothing out from the dresser and set it on the bed.

As I moved to the bed, my foot knocked against Gabriel's workbag. The bag fell over onto the wood floor and file folders came spilling out of it. I sighed with annoyance as I bent down and began to pick up the folders. I returned the freed papers to their folders, and as I made to shove the folders back in the bag something loose fell from the pile. I looked at it closely as I put the folders away, then picked it up. It was a photograph of Gabriel and I. I was wrapped completely in his arms, my eyes closed as he kissed my forehead. I smiled weakly as I moved back to the bed to sit down. My skin shivered with uneasiness as the photo reminded me of everything that was a stake that night, as if I didn't know already.

The photo was nearly a year old, it had been taken (probably by Carrigan) when I was pregnant. My hands were resting on the large bulge of my pregnant belly. The sight made tears well up in my eyes. Words could not describe the fear that pulsed through me like my own blood. I wasn't sure what I was more afraid of—Gabriel dying, or being pregnant again. But I knew that if I was pregnant, I wouldn't be able to do it without Gabriel. No words, not from Sirius or anyone else, would be able to repair the damage in my heart if Gabriel died. Of course, I wouldn't be alone, but just because I was surrounded by people didn't mean I wasn't lonely. Gabriel was the somebody who didn't make me feel lonely. He had been a part of my life for so long, I wasn't sure how I could live without him, even though I knew I would have to.

I wiped the tears from my cheeks and stood up, placing the photo on the bedside table. I dressed quickly in blue jeans and a loose fitting black sweater. I snatched up the photo and stuck it in my back pocket as I made my way for the door. It was time to return to St. Mungo's and face the fact that the next time I returned to Grimmauld Place I could be a widow.


	12. Haiden's Point

When I opened the ward door to Gabriel's private ward, I was surprised to hear a soft female voice speaking. I recognized the voice, but couldn't place it as I approached the white curtain that was pulled shut hiding Gabriel's bed from view. I grasped the curtain and pulled it open carefully. My heart skipped a beat and sunk into my stomach as my eyes fell on the woman sitting next to Gabriel's bed, across from where I stood. My blood ran cold as my niece's mismatching eyes met mine.

Gabriel was sitting up in the bed, propped by a number of pillows behind his back, and his arms folded over his chest. My heart lifted at the sight of him. His dark brown, grey stained, hair had grown in long enough to cover his eyes, but he constantly brushed it out of the way like an American teen-heart-throb. It had been three days since he shaved, his five o'clock shadow made him look dashing. He was smiling at me, with charming warm brown eyes that reminded me of hot chocolate and Christmas. He had been in St. Mungo's for over a week and a half now and this was the first day I had seen him sitting up.

"Cadence," he smiled at me.

"Hello," I said delicately as my eyes turned back to my niece. "Who's presences are we graced with today?"

"It's me Aunt Cadence," Haiden said very carefully.

I bowed my head as I stepped next to Gabriel's bed. I leaned over him, kissing his forehead as my fingers traced down his tattooed arm. He unfolded his arms, allowing me to take his hand with a squeeze.

"How can we be sure of that?" I whispered.

"It's Haiden," Gabriel replied with a gentle smile. "Divinity and Persephone have not been here at all."

"Are you sure?"

Haiden smiled as she leaned forward, placing her elbows on the bed. "I admire your caution, Aunt Cadence."

I looked at my niece. Haiden Drake was a beautiful young woman made of contradictions, which fit her personality perfectly. Her hair was half blonde and half brown, currently all of it was beautifully curled, but usually the brown hair was wavy while the blonde was pin straight. Her eyes were mismatching, like her fathers, one was brilliant crystal blue and the other dark forest green. At first glance, she was startling; almost frightening, but now I was familiar to the mismatch stare. It no longer unsettled me.

To a stranger or Muggle, Haiden would appear as a schizophrenic who suffered from multiple personality disorder. In truth, Haiden had developed multiple personalities because she was kidnapped when she was a toddler and recondition while being raised by a family of Death Eaters. Voldemort performed experimental spells on her, hoping to extend her life and insure his own survival. While Haiden appeared to be the same age as Carrigan, thirteen, she was really eighteen or nineteen. No one seemed to know for sure how old she was.

By blood, Haiden was also blessed with the ability to foresee. I didn't understand how she had come to exist, but the power of premonitions had been passed down from her father, my half-brother by Voldemort. Supposedly, her mother was a powerful goddess who also provided her with mysterious powers. Because of her strength and powers, Gabriel was destined to be her Guardian, like he was mine. But Divinity, the Death Eater personality within Haiden, had fallen from the path, removed herself, and refused to learn. Despite that, she still shared a strong bond with Gabriel.

It was hard to say how much of Haiden's story was true, which parts were embellished, and which parts were complete fantasy. But, if it truly was Haiden who sat across from me, then she was someone we could trust. When she was kidnapped, Haiden was pushed into the subconscious of her being and Divinity overcame her. For most of her life, Divinity controlled her mind and body and lived life as the rich, spoiled, nasty daughter of a well-off Dark Magic family. When Divinity was in control, her physical appearance was different from Haiden's. Divinity appeared more regal and poised. Haiden always appeared to be more of a free-spirit.

Over the last few months Haiden has been fighting to diminish Divinity's control and regain power of her own body and mind. Divinity is a Death Eater, follower of her grandfather Voldemort, while Haiden is a good-hearted young woman who supports the Order of the Phoenix. Persephone is the identity of the Seer inside of Haiden, who occasionally emerges to warn us of upcoming cataclysmic events.

"Can't blame me," I shrugged. "How'd you get here?"

"I may look young, but I am old enough to know how to Apparate."

"Where do your parents think you are?"

"They think I'm visiting a friend in south London," Haiden shrugged as her fingers pulled at the sleeves of her black blouse. "Which isn't a lie."

Her smile was priceless. It reminded me of her father, Braven. It revealed her perfectly straight white teeth and a bit of her cheeky personality. I couldn't help but smile at her.

"How are you feeling, Gabriel?"

"Like a bomb went off next to me," Gabriel smiled up at me. I rolled my eyes, which made his smile glow more, as I bent my head down and kissed his lips. "I'm doing fine, Cadence. The healers say I should be able to leave by the end of the week."

"Good, Carrigan has been going crazy wanting to see you."

"How is Carrigan?" Haiden whispered.

"Well," I replied.

"I've been having dreams of her."

I raised my eyebrows with curiosity as I took a seat on Gabriel's bed. His hand was still tangled with my mine, resting in my lap.

"What kind of dreams?"

"Persephone believes that Carrigan is under a great deal of stress and the new man in her life is not helping her enough. He needs to do more to help her."

This peeked my interest. "How does he need to help her?"

"I'm not sure," Haiden frowned. "The dreams are hard to hold onto. I just wake up feeling worried every morning."

"How long have you been in control?"

"Divinity finds it easier to take control in the morning, I can shake her off by nightfall."

It was nearing one in the afternoon.

"So what is different about today?"

"Persephone had a vision this morning. Its easy for me to take control after the visions."

"You should start referring to yourself as Persephone," Gabriel said softly as he looked at Haiden. "_You_ had a vision this morning, Haiden. Persephone is not a separate entity. She is you."

Haiden smiled and touched his cheek gently. "Thank you Uncle Gabriel." I raised my eyebrows at the title she gave him. "He explained the wedding band."

I nodded with a smirk while Haiden stood up next to the bed.

"I should be going," she whispered. "The Jasper's will be expecting me soon."

"Be safe," I said gently as I looked up at her. She was about the same height as Carrigan, dressed in fine black clothing. Her pants were fitted with single red lines up the sides. Her blouse tucked in neatly and cuffed just over her hands. She looked older then thirteen, much like Carrigan did.

"I hope that Carrigan and I can become closer this year," Haiden said gently as she looked at me, as if she could read my mind. "I hope that she will begin to trust me, as I have begun to trust myself."

I smiled at her and stood up from the bed. "I hope so too. It will be important for us all to trust each other." I embraced my niece gently. Her arms wrapped around my torso awkwardly, like she didn't know how to hug someone. It wouldn't have surprised me if she was unfamiliar with the affectionate exchange. She pulled away after being in my arms for only a few moments.

"Good bye," she said. "I hope you recover quickly, Gabriel."

"Thank you for coming to visit me, Haiden. Have a good term."

"I will, thank you."

She didn't say another word as she walked away. I waited until she left the ward before I turned to Gabriel.

"You didn't discuss anything—"

"No," Gabriel said shortly. "I did not discuss anything pertaining to the Order with her. I am not a fool, darling."

I smiled meekly as I climbed onto the bed, straddling Gabriel's lap. He raised his eyebrows up at me while smirking. His hands automatically found my hips and teasingly ran up and down my thighs. I leaned forward to kiss his neck gently. My lips barely touched his skin before I whispered in his ear that I loved him.

"Have you found the man in black yet?" asked Gabriel. I sighed as I sat back.

"I guess you're not in the mood," I whispered as I looked down at our laps.

"We need to figure out what Scott was involved in and find the man in black. Why did that bomb go off—"

"Are you even sure that's what it was?" I interrupted.

"Cadence," Gabriel sighed because we had been over the story at least ten times in the last week.

"Doesn't it seem odd that a wizard would place a Muggle weapon in the store room of a magical pub?"

"It all seems odd, but obviously Mitchell was in deep trouble and he was meant to die that night."

"Yes, obviously," I sighed.

"I want to have sex with you," Gabriel whispered. "I want to do many things to you, but not until we're alone and I am healthy enough to do them."

I smirked and nodded my head. "Alright." I climbed off of Gabriel who sighed with mild disappointment.

"You didn't have to get off of me."

I smiled as I laid down on the bed next to him. "Do you think Haiden will be strong enough one day that she is completely in control?"

"Yes," he whispered. "I just hope it's soon. We could use her in the fight against your father."

"I know," I replied.

"Did you take the pregnancy test?"

"Yes," I said very slowly. Gabriel heard the shake in my voice. He moved next to me and turned my cheek to him. I looked up at him with calm eyes. "It was negative."

Gabriel relaxed back in the hospital bed.

"Then the prophecy has not come true."

"The summer is not over."

"There is less then a month left. And I think you have proven yourself." Before I can speak again, Gabriel continued with a stern look in his eyes. "What did the Ministry conclude from the explosion?"

"That it was an accident," I replied. "They're not too worried about it. They don't believe that it is in relation to my father at all. In fact, the Minister blames Dumbledore. He's arguing that it is another attempt for Dumbledore to seize the Ministry from him."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "That is not surprising to me."

"Do you think the man in black is related to my father somehow?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if Mitchell was involved with your father," Gabriel responded as his fingers stroked my hair. "But why would Voldemort want him dead?"

"And why don't we know who this man in black is?"

"We should consider the possibility that Mitchell was involved with something worse then your father."

"What could be worse then being a Death Eater?"

"I don't know," Gabriel shrugged. "But whatever it is, it killed Mitchell so it must be pretty bad. Who has been assigned to the case?"

"Athena," I said coldly. "Scrimgeour would not let me on it."

"Of course. Mitchell was your partner."

"But I was there, I saw what happened—and if Athena is on the case then you will be too when you return to work. How is it fair that you get to investigate the explosion that nearly killed you, but I don't?"

"Because Mitchell wasn't my partner. It doesn't matter that I almost died."

"It's not fair."

Gabriel laughed before stealing a gentle kiss from my lips. "You're adorable when you act like a child," he said sarcastically. I made a face at him before climbing out of the bed.

"If that's how you're going to be," I said.

"Would you get back into bed, you impossible woman?"

I smiled at Gabriel as his hand grabbed mine and pulled me back into the bed. He wrapped his muscular arms around my body and held me tightly to his chest. I couldn't help but laugh as he masterfully kissed my neck and collar bone.

"I like when you're childish," he whispered in my ear. "It keeps me young."

"Ha," I replied. "Maybe if you didn't treat me like a child, I wouldn't act like one. I'm your wife now, Gabriel, not your charge."

Gabriel sat back and stared at me with his dark, make-you-melt eyes. I bit my bottom lip with sexual frustration as he stared at me. His stare stirred so many emotions inside of me that I felt as if my body was on fire. Heat was rising between our bodies. I wanted nothing more then to strip down and kiss him all over—but I had to restrain myself.

"You are my wife," he whispered as she stroked my hair back. He was smiling as he continued to look at me. "When all of this is over, and we defeat your father, we're going to go anywhere we want to. We'll go on our honeymoon."

I beamed. "We don't have to go anywhere."

"Yes," he responded. "We do. It will be nice to have a vacation."

"Carrigan will want to come with us."

"Won't be much of a honeymoon," Gabriel smirked.

"I'd want her to come," I said. "She needs a vacation too."

Gabriel looked at me closely. "Is she still having those nightmares?"

"Yes."

"Benjamin can't think of a way to help her?"

"No," I sighed.

"Maybe he isn't her Guardian after all. Like Haiden said, he's not doing enough."

"You know just as well as I do that he is her Guardian."

"No I don't. Cadence, we still don't know enough about him. Even Sirius doesn't trust him."

"You and Sirius don't trust him because he's rolling around half naked with Carrigan for hours every day."

"Really? You had to go there?" Gabriel scorned.

"Gabriel, it's the way he talks about her," I said as I sat up on the bed to look at him. "He's only loyal to her. She's all he has. Those are the same things you said to me."

"I said those things because I didn't want to say I love you and hurt you more."

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe that's how you rationalized saying those things, but it's possible you said them because you're my Guardian."

Gabriel didn't say anything right away. "I still think we should be careful."

"I agree," I responded. "But some would say it's hard for us to be careful when we let him know where headquarters is."

"My point…" Gabriel growled. "I think you trust too easily."

"So does Carrigan," I responded. "But doesn't it say something that she trusts him?"

"She's thirteen…"

"She has better intuition then I do," I retorted. "And she is one of the most cautious young women we know—"

"Alright, I see your point," Gabriel said quickly. "I'll let it go."

"Thank you," I said as I laid back down.

"But, just keep in mind that Haiden has a point too."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. I'll keep it in mind."


	13. Carrigan's Protection

"Cadence?"

The voice that was calling my name seemed foggy, as if it was calling for me from a long distance. Darkness faded and my blurry vision cleared as I opened my eyes to the wall of the library in Number Twelve. I frowned slightly as I stared at the dusty books decorating the shelves against the wall. The voice said my name again, making me sit up in my chair. I threw my messy chestnut brown curls over my shoulder as I turned to look at Benjamin Snow, looking at me with a concerned expression on his hard stone face.

"Yes?" I said standing up and adjusting my shirt that was askew from the bent over position I had been sleeping in as I laid my head on the library desk.

"You haven't been sleeping well, have you?"

Benjamin was a very perceptive young man. I suppose it was a trait of any Guardian. I forced a smile at him as he folded his hands behind his back and studied me with piercing ice blue eyes. He was wearing blue jeans and a black pull-over sweater. His feet were bare, which surprised me because Number Twelve was a drafty old house with wooden floors. The floor was always cold, even in the summer, and not a single rug could be found in the place.

"What?" I stammered puzzled. But it was too late. I had waited too long to reply to his question and Benjamin, much like Gabriel, could see right through me. Either I was not good at hiding my feelings and thoughts or Guardians were more skilled with reading people then I ever realized. "What makes you say that?"

"You were asleep with your head on the desk," Benjamin said motioning to the desk that stood behind me. I crossed my arms over my chest and rubbed my arms in a self-comforting manner.

"I'm fine."

"You're still worried about Gabriel."

"Not exactly," I replied. "Was something wrong?"

Benjamin nodded his head, taking my obvious hint to leave the subject of my insomnia alone and tell me why he had come to the library.

"Dumbledore is here," Benjamin motioned to the door behind him. "The meeting is about to start, but he would like to speak to us and Carrigan first."

I raised my eyebrows surprised. "Do you know what about?"

Benjamin frowned. "I have an idea." His tone was sore with displeasure. He turned on his heel and walked from the library without another word. I rolled my eyes and followed after him, wondering what Dumbledore could want to speak to us about that would also put Benjamin in a foul mood.

When I arrived downstairs on the main floor behind Benjamin, I was surprised to see Albus Dumbledore and Sirius standing in the sitting room off the foyer with Carrigan sitting on the couch waiting for us. I thought Dumbledore would be waiting in the basement-kitchen as the meeting of the Order of the Phoenix was about to start.

"Hello Cadence," Dumbledore gave me a charming smile on his aged face. He looked a great deal like Father Christmas; dressed in rich red robes with gold trim and detailing on the neckline. His white beard and long hair hung down over his chest, and blue eyes twinkled with sullen happiness as he peered at me over his half-moon spectacles.

"Good evening, Headmaster," I said as he took my hand and kissed my cheek. His beard and mustache tickled my flesh, while his lips were thin and dry.

"You look well," he beamed before motioning for Benjamin and I to sit down. I took a seat next to Carrigan, who gave me a smile. Her smile fell when she met my green gaze.

"What's the matter?" she asked. Benjamin and Dumbledore were exchanging pleasantries as Carrigan questioned me.

"Nothing."

"You look like you just woke up."

I gave her a guilty frown. "I fell asleep on the desk in the library."

"What were you doing in there?" Carrigan looked puzzled. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"What is with the inquisition?" I whispered. "Am I not allowed to read all of a sudden?"

"You only sit in the library when you're worried and you hope that research will find an answer to calm your worry," Carrigan snipped quickly. "And you get insomnia when you worry so it makes sense that you'd be so tired you'd pass out on the desk while reading."

I grunted and folded my arms over my chest. Carrigan smirked because she knew she had me pinned. "But, the question remains what are you so worried about that you want to research it?"

"Why did you want to speak to us, Headmaster?" I said sitting forward and ignoring Carrigan's question.

"I wanted to inquire about Carrigan's powers and how her training is coming," Dumbledore said calmly as he looked at me sitting across from him on the couch. Benjamin had taken refuge on the arm of the couch next to Carrigan's elbow, while Dumbledore had sat in an over-stuffed armchair. Sirius was standing by the window of the sitting room, staring out at the empty square that was dark and gloomy looking. "As the school year approaches, I want to make sure that she has everything under control and if more training is required that we make proper arrangements for such things."

"I'm doing fine," Carrigan said instantly. Dumbledore had barely finished speaking when her voice addressed his concerns.

"She is," Benjamin agreed. "But she needs to do better then fine."

Carrigan gave Benjamin a dirty look as she sighed with annoyance. He didn't look at her, knowing full well the glare that she was sending him. He kept his eyes forward on Dumbledore.

"There is a great deal going on right now," I said easily. "I can speak from experience that it makes focusing difficult."

"I think if Carrigan returns to Hogwarts in September she will continue to regress," Benjamin spoke quickly with a stern tone. "The point of her training is to focus, no matter the conditions of her life around her. Returning to Hogwarts would cause more difficulties."

Dumbledore seemed surprised by this statement. He sat back in his chair with high bushy eyebrows while he studied Benjamin. "What would you suggest?"

Carrigan jumped out of her seat. "I will not have you two discuss how to address my regressions while I sit right here! I am capable of making my own decisions—_and I_ _am going back to Hogwarts_!"

The last comment was directed straight at Benjamin. He looked up at Carrigan, who only stood a head taller then him as he sat on the arm of the couch, with sad blue eyes.

"It is simply my opinion," he whispered.

"Well, Benjamin, sometimes your opinion doesn't matter," she hissed.

"Carrigan," Sirius said stepping forward from the window. His tone was firm but not harsh or condescending. "Benjamin's intentions are pure, please do not chastise him for making a suggestion that may be in your best interest."

Carrigan and I both stared at Sirius with great shock. He looked well today—like he hadn't been staring into an empty bottle of liquor—and was wearing dark brown slacks and a stone grey button-up with a heavy forest green waist coat over top. The earth-tones of his clothing made the dark-midnight blue of his eyes seem deeper and darker. His appearance and tone were what surprised me. He was controlled today; good and content. Because of that I knew he would be rational and understanding during the conversation, but it still startled me to see him in such a flattering light considering I had known him to be a drunk the last few weeks.

I took Carrigan's hand, "Sit down," I whispered. "Please."

She sighed and returned to her seat on the couch next to me. Her hand remained tightly in mine, on my lap as she apologized to Dumbledore and Benjamin. Dumbledore bowed his head before returning his blue stare to Benjamin.

"What would you suggest?"

"I think that Carrigan should stay here so that she and I can work harder and more diligently on her training," Benjamin said as he looked to her. Carrigan did not look at him. I knew they had this discussion before and Carrigan was adamant about returning to Hogwarts. "At the end of last school year she was stronger then she is now. Over the last few months, because of the return of Voldemort and the anxieties associated with it, she has regressed. I believe that returning to Hogwarts will just add more stress to what she is already carrying around with her. Between her friends' lives and class work, I just think it will be better for her well being and focus to remain here."

Carrigan looked up abruptly. "What if Benjamin comes to Hogwarts with me?"

Silence fell in the room as all eyes turned to Carrigan. Dumbledore seemed surprised, but pleased with another suggestion. He wanted Carrigan to return to Hogwarts; keeping her away seemed like a radical solution to the problem of her training. I looked over Carrigan's head to Benjamin's face and saw that this is what he was referring too. He was afraid of going to Hogwarts because he did not want to. I wondered if his suggestion for Carrigan to remain at home instead of returning to school was more about him then her.

"Why do you two have to be together?" Sirius asked gently. "Cadence and Gabriel were not together through her training."

"My training was never completed," I responded casually. "That could be one of the reasons why."

"I forgot how many 'ifs' are involved with Guardians." Sirius turned away and looked out the window again. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest. I couldn't help but study him, wondering if his comment was another blow to the relationship I had built with Gabriel.

"Ben," Carrigan turned in her seat to look up at him. "I know that it's not your ideal situation, but you're seventeen, you could be a seventh year. We can practice whenever you want and you'll be there to keep an eye on me. Then we both get what we want. I get to go back to school and you get to be breathing down my neck all the time about my training."

"I don't want you to stay here so I can monitor your training," he said softly. "I think that being at school provides too many distractions."

"Being here provides too many distractions," Carrigan said sadly. "I hate the fact that I'm worse off. And I know I am. I'm just having a rough patch. Everyone has rough patches and I will come out of it. But staying here, seeing everything that is happening _here_, it's not helping. I need to get away from this reality. I need to go back to school where I can be a kid again. When I am supposed to be a kid I am more of an adult…trust me, being at Hogwarts will help me focus more, not less."

Benjamin stared at Carrigan for a long time. I watched him as he looked at her. I wondered if they were having a silent conversation with Legilimency, much like Gabriel and I often did.

"Alright," he whispered. He stroked her brown curls behind her ear and nodded his head. "If you think it's best for you then who am I to question it?" He looked up at Dumbledore. "Is this a possibility, Sir?"

"Of course it is," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I will make sure that a letter is sent to you concerning your required school supplies."

"When will he be sorted?" I asked.

"When he arrives at Hogwarts," Dumbledore replied. "Come straight to my office. I'll have you sorted before the Sorting Hat is taken down to the feast."

Benjamin nodded his head. He still did not look happy, though. He looked down at Carrigan who was smiling happily as she sat back on the couch. Benjamin's eyes seemed to light up when he looked at her. Was it because she was smiling? Seeing her happy made him happy?

"If that is all," Sirius said as he pushed his hands into his pockets. "Perhaps we should get the meeting started downstairs."

"Yes, of course," Dumbledore said cheerfully as he stood up. "Thank you Carrigan, Benjamin and Cadence."

"Thank you Professor," Carrigan said as we all stood.

"Carrigan," Benjamin said her name lightly. She looked up at him and when their eyes met her face fell slightly. Her posture slumped and she frowned. "We need to work on Occlumency before you go to bed."

I rubbed Carrigan's shoulders and kissed the back of her head to encourage her.

"Fine," she whispered. "Let's go to the library."

Benjamin gave her a weak smile and motioned for her to exit the room in front of him.

"Good night everyone," she said politely.

Sirius called her over with a smile. She returned the expression and embraced him. My heart lifted as I watched them. It seemed that Sirius had repaired his relationship with Carrigan after their fight when she ran away. He kissed her forehead before lifting her chin to look in her eyes.

"I know it seems futile, but your training is important," Sirius whispered. "Even if we both don't like it."

Carrigan beamed at him. "I love you," she said embracing him again.

"I love you too pumpkin," he said softly. "Good night."

She pulled out of his arms. "Good night," she said again to everyone before turning and leaving the room. Benjamin followed quietly, bidding us all good night. Without another word, Sirius moved through the sitting room and foyer to the staircase that led to the basement. Dumbledore and I followed.

The basement kitchen was full of chatting people and strong smells of wine, stew and fresh hot bread. Molly Weasley had out-done herself by cooking dinner for the Order to enjoy as the meeting took place. There were at least a dozen people crowded around the dinning room table, with extra chairs that had been magically conjured to make room for them. There were the people I knew: Molly and Arthur Weasley, Remus, Mad-Eye Moody, Mundungus Fletcher, Kingsley Shacklebolt (a high ranking Auror in the department), Tonks (a young Aurora who was Sirius' cousin), Professor Minerva McGonagall, Professor Severus Snape (who was playing spy to my understanding) and of course Sirius. And people I didn't know: a middle aged man with graying hair and dark beard wearing a green cloak and dirty hat, an old woman with long white curly hair wearing a brown dress and black cloak, and two younger men who I recognized but could not place. The young men were ruggedly handsome, one with blond hair and facial stubble, the other with black hair and dark eyes. I studied them for a long moment as I took a seat next to Sirius. Perhaps they were other Aurors in the department that I had seen at the office but never worked with.

I glanced at Sirius next to me as Dumbledore called the meeting to order. All side discussions stopped, leaving a calm quiet in the kitchen. Arthur stood up from his chair as Dumbledore greeted everyone and kindly shut the door that closed off the stairwell leading to the foyer of the house. I knew he was closing the door to prevent the children from ease-dropping on the conversations that were about to take place.

Years ago, when the first Order of the Phoenix formed it was composed of at least twice as many people that sat in the kitchen. My heart sunk at the thought of all the people who had lost their lives in the first war and how many would lose their lives now. I tapped my fingers uneasily against the table.

"This meeting is being called to address concerns of Harry Potter's safety especially given the new circumstances that he may be expelled," Dumbledore said formally. I blinked and turned to look down the table at him. He was the only person standing in the room now. "Severus has heard murmurs that Voldemort does not mean to harm Harry right now, rather he is keeping his sights set on the weapon deeply hidden in the Ministry."

"Are you sure that this weapon," said the young men I recognized with dark hair. "Is in the Department of Mysteries?"

"I am certain," Dumbledore said with no hesitation.

"What makes you so sure?"

Dumbledore smiled at the young man. "Information was provided by an insider who could not be here tonight, Thrett."

I studied the dark haired man who had questioned Dumbledore. He was only a few years older then me, and his companion looked to be the same age. His face was long with tight skin pulled over his high cheek bones. His eyes were deep brown to match his dark hair and skin tone. His eyes seemed untrustworthy too me. Perhaps they reminded me of too many men that had hurt and betrayed me in my past, but they were dark, shadowy and shifty.

I did not like how he asked questions about the weapon we were determined to protect from my Father. It was possible I was being paranoid about this unfamiliar man. As if he knew I was studying him, he turned a glance at me before questioning Dumbledore further. I stared directly at Thrett, letting him know I was not intimidated by him in the least bit. He gave me an honest smile before looking back in Dumbledore's direction.

"What is so great about this weapon that it is more important then killing Potter?"

"I believe that Voldemort thinks this weapon will give him the upper hand in this war," Dumbledore replied to Thrett's question. "This weapon will help him destroy Harry and our entire world as we know it."

The room grew awkwardly silent for a few moments, before Dumbledore turned to Severus Snape.

"Severus, if you'll please," he gestured for Snape to stand. I felt Sirius shift in his seat as Snape stood up from his chair, looking dark and menacing as ever. He was a tall, thin man with pale-waxy looking flesh and long black greasy hair. He looked the same as he did when we were in school, except with added aged lines to his pale flesh.

"The Dark Lord has not revealed any intentions of harming Potter to me," he said softly. "He is wise to assume that the boy has been well protected since his return in June."

I grunted uneasily. 'Well protected' meant leaving Mundungus Fletcher outside the Muggle home that Harry stayed in. Frankly, that wasn't very good protection.

"The Dark Lord is more interested in two things," Severus continued. "The weapon hidden in the Ministry and his grand-daughter."

The room grew awkwardly silent as Severus turned his dark eyes to Sirius and I sitting at the opposite end of the table. I sat up straight in my chair as every head in the room followed Severus' stare to me and my ex. Sirius grumbled and rubbed his face.

"You're sure he means Carrigan?" I asked uneasily.

"Divinity is already in his power," Severus shrugged. I wished suddenly that Gabriel was present. It occurred to me that no one else besides me, Gabriel and Dumbledore may know that Haiden was beginning to over-power Divinity's personality. It was also possible that no one else but the three of us truly understood how complicated Divinity's existence was. "Who else could he be referring to?"

"Well, I don't know how many bastard children my father has," I said with a bit of bite in my tone. "But I see no harm in being clear about my father's intentions. Why does he want my daughter?"

"He has not given me the privilege of knowing his desires. Perhaps he just wants to keep an eye on his family," Severus responded. I frowned deeply as I sat back in my chair and looked at Sirius. He looked red with rage.

"She is safe," Sirius said. "Here with the Order. And when she goes to school she will be just as protected."

"How can you be so sure?" Molly Weasley asked with a soft voice.

"Between the members of the Order that will be present and Benjamin going with her to keep up her training, she will be safe."

"And she can take care of herself," I responded giving Sirius a quick glance. He took my hand and squeezed it to comfort me. I was not surprised by Severus' report. But to hear all of my fears justified—to know that Voldemort was after my daughter—it made my skin crawl with fear and discomfort.

"Yes, I am confident that Carrigan will be safe at Hogwarts," Dumbledore agreed. "And if Harry does not get expelled, he will be safe too. I called this meeting so that all parties could be advised that Harry will be moved to Headquarters next week. A guard of seven or eight people will go to retrieve him. I will ask you to volunteer because despite Severus' report, we can never assume that Harry is safe. It could be very dangerous. Alastor will head the guard, if you are interested in volunteering to retrieve Harry, please see him. I must be off. Good evening to everyone, and thank you all for being here."

Dumbledore left the kitchen without another word. As soon as he left, conversation picked up between members of the Order. Drinks were passed and food was served again. I calmly remained in my chair, my hands balled tightly on the arms of the chair, gripping it so tight they were turning white.

"Cadence," Sirius called me back to reality. I looked over to his dark-midnight stare and the tension in my body relaxed. "It will be fine."

"Oh, I know," I forced. Before I could say another word, Alastor Moody arrived at my side.

"Coleman, I trust you'll want to be on the guard that brings Potter here," he stated.

"Yes," I nodded. "Of course."

"Alright," was all he said and moved away. I frowned with mild confusion, but shrugged off his peculiar demeanor and turned to face Sirius again.

"I'm just worried about everything," I said blankly. "It seems odd that my father would be so fixated on this weapon at the Ministry. What could possibly be in the Department of Mysteries that he didn't have last time?"

"Anything in that department could make him stronger," said a deep voice next to us. Sirius and I both turned to see Thrett, the dark-haired young man who had sat across the table from us. He held out his hand to me as he gave me a wickedly charming smile.

"Henry Thrett," he said. I took his hand and shook it lightly.

"Cadence Coleman."

"I know who you are Cadence—"

"Most people do, and Coleman will do," I said as I looked up at him. "Is there something I can help you with Mr. Thrett?"

"I work in the Department of Mysteries," his tone of voice changed in response to my defensive demeanor. It was more harsh and frank. "I want to be sure that whatever your father is after is in fact in the department, because if it is we had better make sure he doesn't get it."

"What do you think could be in there that he wants?" Sirius asked.

"Many things," Thrett replied more amiably. "But, I am not permitted to speak about what we do there or what is in there."

"Then why are you here?" I hissed with annoyance. There was something about this man that I did not like and I truly wanted him to leave my side before I pounced all over him.

"Because, if whatever your Father is looking for is, in fact, in my department, I may be willing to break some rules to make sure he doesn't get his hands on it," Thrett replied as he looked straight into my eyes. "Voldemort is the reason my children don't have a mother and I will do anything in my power to stop him and his disgusting cause."

"I'm happy to know where your allegiances lie," Sirius politely. Thrett bowed his head before standing up straight to bid us good bye.

"I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other," he said bowing his head to me. Before I could make a retort, he turned and exited the kitchen with the young blonde haired man. I frowned slightly and looked back at Sirius, who was smirking.

"What?" I questioned.

"You really have a frosty demeanor that somehow attracts men," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh please," Sirius laughed lightly. "You had to notice how he was coming onto you! He didn't take his eyes off of you even when you insulted him."

I rolled my eyes, which caused Sirius to laugh louder. Remus sat down next to me, looking cheerful. I did a double take at him once he was sitting because he was smiling ear to ear.

"What is so funny?" he asked.

"Can we stay focused?" I said turning back to Sirius who was smiling just as much as Remus. "I'm very worried about what my father is up to."

"We all are," Remus said. "But I don't think that is why Sirius was laughing…"

"Thrett was coming onto Cadence," Sirius shrugged. Remus winked at me which caused me to role my eyes again and cross my arms tightly over my chest.

"It doesn't matter," I hissed with frustration. "Why are you so smiley Moony?"

Remus quickly looked away to hide his smile. I followed his gaze and saw it fall on Tonks, the pretty young Auror with a heart shaped face and pink hair. Remus looked back at me with a forced frown.

"I'm not smiley," he insisted. Sirius laughed and shook his head.

"You're a terrible liar."

"Oh, you like her," I whispered with a girlish giggle. I patted his shoulder. "Good for you, Remus."

Remus shook my hand off of him and batted it away. "For Merlin's sake we're adults—well I'm an adult. I'm pretty sure you two still haven't grown up."

This caused Sirius and I to both laugh.

"Relax, Moony," Sirius said as he stood up. I hadn't noticed, but most of the people had left kitchen. "We're just giving you a hard time. It's good that you may have found someone."

"Who's found someone?" Carrigan's young voice questioned approaching us.

"What are you doing down here?" Remus questioned quickly as he looked over at her. Carrigan paused a few feet from our chairs. She looked around the kitchen, only the Weasley's, Tonks, Remus, Sirius and I remained in the seats around the table.

"I thought the meeting was done," she said slowly as she looked at Remus. He frowned.

"Sorry for snapping," he responded. "Your parents are getting under my skin."

He stood up and moved away from the table, leaving the chair open for Carrigan to sit on. She slipped into it quickly, watching Remus with curious eyes as he wondered off to the opposite end of the table where Tonks was sitting. He sat down next to her and joined into the conversation she and Molly were having.

"He shouldn't worry so much," Carrigan said softly as she watched him smile at Tonks. "She likes him too."

"Carrigan," I said with surprise.

She frowned as she looked at me. "I'm sorry," she sighed. "I can just hear his thoughts."

"Still haven't figured out how to control that?" Sirius asked sympathetically as he studied his daughter.

"No, I have," she gave him a smile. "I was trying to find out what your meeting was about."

"Carrigan," I sighed as I leaned back in my chair. I rubbed my fingertips against my temple as I felt a headache coming on.

"I'm kidding," she insisted. "I actually came down here to ask you if Benjamin and I can go for a jog and—"

"It's ten o'clock at night," Sirius said uneasily as he looked at the clock that hung on the back wall of the kitchen leading to the pantry.

"We haven't gone yet today." There was a begging tone to Carrigan's voice, which I found unusual. I studied her, wondering what was on her mind that she wanted to get out of the house so bad.

"I just worry about you running that late."

"Dad, Benjamin will be with me," she continued. "I promise we'll be fine."

"You don't know that," he shook his head before looking her straight in the eye. "Carrigan, our meeting was about protecting you and Harry. Voldemort is after you. It is not safe for you to be jogging through the streets of London in the dead of night with a seventeen year old boy for safety."

Carrigan frowned deeply while tucking her hair behind her ears. I knew what she was about to do. She was going to ask me for permission. She was going to see if there was any way to negotiate the situation. She hoped I would be a means of doing so. But for once, I had to agree with Sirius. Considering the meeting that just occurred and the blatant fact that Voldemort was after her, I had no choice but to agree with Sirius. Carrigan needed to be more careful and I had to start parenting her better.

I didn't give her a chance to speak. "I think it best you stay in tonight, Carrigan," I whispered. "I'd prefer for you to run in the day from now on with Gabriel or I as well as Benjamin."

"We don't know when Gabriel will be out of the hospital and you don't keep up with Benjamin and me—"

"Carrigan," I said her name quickly. "This discussion is over."

Her eyes widened with surprise and her mouth hung open slightly. She closed it quickly and nodded her head. "Fine," she said. I frowned deeply as she got up, her frustration clear all over her face and tension body. She didn't say another word before she left the kitchen, leaving me feeling heartless.

I didn't like what had just happened and I regretted it. I wished I could take the way I had spoken to her back. I had always promised myself I wouldn't be a harsh parent, but I was also starting to think that I was being to lenient with Carrigan's safety. Voldemort had returned. The world was no longer safe. It never would be as long as he was in it.


	14. Constant Danger

"I'm happy you're coming home, but it figures that you're being released on the day that the guard is going to pick up Harry," I whispered with a minor tone of frustration in my voice as I folded Gabriel's clothing. He was standing by the window of his private ward, looking out at the bustling night life on London's streets. He turned to me with his right hand holding his left forearm. He looked strangely thin. Being in the hospital for a number of weeks, from mid-July to early August, had caused him to loose weight, even muscle.

"You could have gone with them. I didn't need you to come and pick me up."

"Because of your past stays here, the Healers will not release you unless someone signs off on your papers," I said looking at him. "I _did_ have to come and pick you up."

Gabriel gave me a weak smile as he approached the bed to help me fold the clothing from his stay. Almost two years ago, Gabriel had spent a few months in the hospital in a coma because Divinity sent him a vision, causing him an episodic state of amnesia. At times, though it was very rare, Gabriel forgot details of his life as a result of the past amnesia. Divinity still sent him visions, as he was her Guardian, and at times they wiped his memory for a few hours. He always looked like a stranger when he woke up from those nightmares. Because of the possible amnesia, Gabriel was not allowed to release himself from St. Mungo's. I knew he didn't like it, but as his wife I wasn't going to give him much of a choice. His decisions didn't just affect him anymore.

"When did I become an old man, Cadence?" Gabriel asked sorely as he shoved some of the clothing into the duffle bag on the bed. I looked up at him with surprise.

"You're not old, Gabriel," I responded. "Dumbledore is old. You are only in your forties."

"A young man would not have taken this long to heal."

I frowned as I studied him. He looked defeated. His eyes were sullen in his thinned face. He was paler then normal, almost sickly looking. Even despite that, he was still the most handsome man I had ever seen; with his tattooed arms, dark eyes and hair, and muscular (yet thin) build. He was tall and broad shouldered with big hands and arms. I moved around the bed and took his rough hands in mine. He looked at me with surprise.

"You're only as young as you choose to be," I whispered as I squeezed his hands. "You are not dead yet, Gabriel. Just because it took you long to heal this time doesn't mean you are unable to keep fighting."

"How'd you know that is where I was going with this?"

"Believe it or not, I know you pretty well," I responded with a frank smile. Gabriel returned the grin as he released my hand and stroked my cheek with his rough fingertips. He leaned down and placed gentle kisses on my full lips. Despite the change in his physical appearance, there was no doubt in my mind about who he was. Only Gabriel could kiss me in a way that lit a fire inside of me. No man ever kissed me that way.

"I would hope so," he whispered in my ear. "Let's go. I'm starving and I'm sure you're itching to see Harry."

I nodded and stepped away from Gabriel. He finished packing his bag, zipped it shut, and then we were on our way out the door. When we arrived at Number Twelve, Alastor Moody was the first person we saw in the foyer of the house. He pulled his wand on us immediately, his gnarled hand pointing the chipped and bent wand straight at us in a threatening manner.

Before either Gabriel or I could say a word, Moody stepped forward hissing a question through his chapped lips. "When is the first time I met Cadence Coleman?"

"I was at Hogwarts," Cadence replied with my hands in the air so Moody could see them. "I called you Mr. Moody and you said you didn't trust me."

Moody nodded and looked to Gabriel. "Why didn't Scrimgeour assign Coleman as my partner while you were in St. Mungo's two years ago?"

"Because I told him Cadence would not respond well to your authoritive methods. She has issues with authority."

I frowned and raised my eyebrows at both men while tightly crossing my arms over my chest. "Really?" My eyes traveled between the two of them with a harsh sternness. Moody grumbled and stood up straight as he tucked his wand into his pocket, while Gabriel gave me an innocent shrug and docile expression. I rolled my eyes and turned to face Moody.

"Alastor, where is Harry?"

"He's upstairs," Moody pointed over his crooked shoulder. "Everything went fine as planned."

"Good," I sighed with relief.

"I don't like the circumstances," Moody muttered. "That are putting him on trial."

He was referring to the incident with the Dementors a few weeks ago.

"No one does," I said.

"We still have no idea how those Dementors ended up in Little Whinging?"

Gabriel had taken the case when it was first opened a month ago, before we got into trouble with Mitchell and the bomb at the pub. But shortly after the initial event, the case was scrubbed by the Minister himself. He argued that 'we should not be wasting expensive and powerful resources on the make-believe accusations of an attention seeking teenager.'

"No," I whispered. "Scrimgeour has been forced to abandon the case by direct orders from the Minister."

"I'm looking into it myself," Moody said quickly. "Going to speak to Dumbledore about it tonight at the meeting."

"It's obvious that someone from the Ministry sent the Dementors to attack Harry."

Gabriel frowned deeply at my comment but nodded his head as he rubbed the back of the neck with his free hand. "That is not very encouraging. How can we be sure if this person who sent the Dementors is on the Ministry's side or Voldemort's? And how do we know it's just one person?"

"Leave it to me," Moody said thumping Gabriel's shoulder.

"I'd like to help you Alastor," Gabriel said as Moody moved towards the kitchen stairwell. "If you don't mind."

Moody rolled his eyes and grunted with ambivalence. "You know I like you Gabriel, but I work better on my own. I'll keep you informed though."

Gabriel looked at Moody with a heated glare, but did not say anything to argue with the old man out of respect.

"The meeting has started," Moody hissed as he limped away. He was down the stairs and out of view within a second, as if he had never been there at all. I looked up at Gabriel who looked uncomfortable and annoyed with Moody's words.

"Gabriel," I said touching his chest as I looked up at him. "You have plenty of work to do already. Scrimgeour has put me with you and Athena for the time being. He wants us to looking into Mitchell's death and what he was up to leading up to it."

"You haven't made any head way on that in the last few weeks?" Gabriel asked with a frown.

"Athena and I haven't been able to find anything," I replied soundly. "And I've had other things on my mind…" My voice trailed off as I pulled away from his body. I took his bag and began to head upstairs to our bedroom. I wanted to put everything away and see Harry before I headed to the Order meeting downstairs in the kitchen.

The halls of the house were empty and quiet as Gabriel and I moved up the stairs to our room. I was thankful for the silence because I needed to compose myself before Gabriel inquired about what else has been on my mind. I knew he would ask, especially because I was putting up my Occlumency walls. When we arrived and he tightly closed the door behind us, he looked at me sternly. He was perturbed that I was blocking him, but he would just have to deal. If he wanted to know what had been going on with me since he went into the hospital he was going to have to ask.

"What else has been on your mind?" he questioned.

"Oh, I don't know," I snipped. "Maybe the fact that you were in St. Mungo's, Carrigan and I haven't talked in a week, Harry might get expelled, Benjamin is going to Hogwarts with Carrigan and I'm—"

"Benjamin is going to Hogwarts with Carrigan?" Gabriel interrupted with a shocked face. "Is that really a good idea?"

I sighed with frustration as I threw Gabriel's bag on the bed. The most important thing that had been bothering me for the last week I still hadn't said. Gabriel had interrupted me too soon to hear what I really wanted to tell him. And of all the things to pick out of my complaints, he picked that? He wasn't concerned that Carrigan and I haven't talked in the last week?

"Yes," I said. "It is the most reasonable solution to keep up her training while she is at school. He is seventeen, he'll be a seventh year."

"Won't it look suspicious that a seventh year is paying such attention to a thirteen year old forth year?"

"Suspicious to who?" I questioned. "Who cares if two students are interacting and one is tutoring the other? It's way less suspicious then a grown man coming to give private lessons to a seventh year."

Gabriel smirked slightly and bowed his head in understanding. "Alright," he said coming to me. He touched my shoulders, sensing that I was still upset about something. "I don't think Carrigan really hates you. You're just having a misunderstanding. Teenage girls fight with their moms all the time."

"That isn't the worst of it, Gabriel," I whispered sadly.

"Well, what is it then?" he asked as he kissed my forehead. His arms engulfed me tightly as his hands rubbed my back. It felt so good to be in his arms again that I almost forgot all of the things I was worried about. I looked up at him and stood on my toes to kiss him delicately. Our lips met as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. Passion erupted through my entire body as we kissed. His mouth felt wonderful on mine.

He pulled away mid-kiss to look down at me with raised eyebrows.

"Tell me," he said as his dark brown eyes studied my green stare. He was smiling at me, even though he could sense that what worried me was bad news.

"Gabriel," I said his name slowly as I relaxed in his arms and took a step back. "I'm pregnant."

Gabriel's smile relaxed for a moment. I could tell he wanted to be excited, but he knew that I was not excited.

"Do you want the baby?" he asked.

I hesitated because I wasn't sure how to answer the question. Yes, I wanted the baby. But I did not want the baby if it was going to be a monster. I did not want to be pregnant if I was going to loose the child in a miscarriage. I didn't want to deal with the pain and healing process again. I didn't want to deal with Gabriel's disappointment. I wanted the child if I could actually have it. And I wanted the child if Gabriel was going to live because I could not raise a child as Voldemort was regaining power.

"Cadence?"

"It's not a simple question."

Gabriel frowned and nodded his head as he turned away from me. He ran his hands through his hair before turning back to me. He gave me a strong smile that broke my heart.

"I want you to be happy," he said coming to me. "If this is too much for you; If you're life is at risk then I want us to have an abortion. I don't want to loose you to the pregnancy."

"The chances that I'll carry to term are slim to none," I whispered. "And what if this is what the prophecy has been about the entire time? I am supposed to protect a powerful magical child—"

"Well that should give you hope that you will carry the child to term."

"Then you will die," I whispered as my voice shook.

"No," he shook his head. "Persephone said that I would die before the summer is over—"

"—there is still a month left of summer!"

Gabriel gave me a stern look, causing me to frown and bit my bottom lip. I looked up at him with an apologetic stare, which caused him to beam at me. He continued to speak.

"But if you were to grow independent then I would live. We will be able to protect the child together because you have become independent of your Guardian."

"Is it really the best time to be having a baby?" I questioned. "With everything else put aside, it is a very dangerous time. I will be vulnerable while pregnant. I won't be able to protect Carrigan. And Merlin knows how long this war is going to go on! Gabriel we were so afraid last year of who would take care of Carrigan and Caspian if my father returned and something happened to us…well he has returned and there is a very high likelihood that something will happen to us, who will take care of Carrigan and this baby then?"

"We have friends who are more like family here in the Order. We are not alone, Cadence. I'm sure the Weasley's would take our children if anything were ever to happen. You don't know what could happen—"

"That's the issue!" I yelled suddenly. "I don't like not knowing what could happen! A baby makes everything so much more complicated! We are in constant danger. Why would I want to bring a child into that danger? Our child deserves more then that."

"We can't wait until the war is over to have children, Cadence," he said instantly. "We don't know when that will be and if it will be possible. I want to have a child with you. Maybe this is our shot."

"Gabriel," I sighed suddenly as I looked at him with pained eyes. He was looking at me with a similar pain. He knew that his words were hurtful towards me. He knew that he had let all of his secrets slip in that one statement. I realized quickly that he was just like Sirius. At the end of it all, he wanted to have a family with me, just like Sirius did. I was coming off as the cold-hearted woman who didn't want kids. I never wanted kids and somehow I got knocked up all the time it felt like.

"I just meant someday," he said quickly. "Someday if you're ready and you want it too. You're more important to me then anything else in this world. And if not having a child with you is the price to keep you then I will do it. But you are pregnant Cadence, so I will ask again, do you want the baby?"

"I don't know," I said quickly. "I don't know. I think it is irresponsible to have a child now. I think it is stupid and foolish. And especially for us, the risk is too high."

"If we survive the war—"

"—_we will_," I said sharply.

Gabriel gave me a weak smile as he took me in his arms again. "When the war is over, and we have the opportunity, would you like to have a child then?"

"Maybe," I said honestly.

"If in the future you can't have children, will you regret giving this one up?"

I thought about the question for a few moments before I answered. "Yes," I whispered. I don't know why I said it, I just did. Maybe to make Gabriel happy.

When I was pregnant with Caspian, before the accident, there was no question in my mind about having the baby. Now, because of so many reasons—the rules of Guardian and students reproducing, my father's return, his attempts to take Carrigan, the constant danger—it just all seemed like too much.

"If that is truly your answer, then I think you've made your decisions," he said quietly in my ear before he kissed it. I wrapped my arms tightly around him.

"You're sure we can do it?" I asked softly.

"Yes," he said before kissing my neck. "You are an excellent mother already. We will protect our child fiercely, and they will be well loved. That is all that matters."

"I love you, Gabriel," I said as I pressed my head against his shoulder. He squeezed me in his arms and kissed the top of my head.

There was a knock on the door that prevented us from continuing to kiss and share affection. Gabriel kept me in his arms as he turned his head over his shoulder and called that the door was open. Carrigan busted in quickly beaming with happiness. It was the first time I had seen her smile in a week. As she entered, she didn't meet my eye. She only looked to Gabriel.

"Gabriel!" she cried excitedly. Gabriel pulled away from me carefully as Carrigan dashed to him. She jumped into his arms and he spun her around playfully, much like he used to when she was younger. "I was so worried about you!" Carrigan said as she clung to him. "And Mom wouldn't take me to see you!"

"I asked her not to," Gabriel said honestly. "I didn't want you to see me like that."

"Gabriel," Carrigan scolded as he set her down.

"How have you been, Carri?" he asked tucking her hair behind her ear. She smiled up at him.

"Fine," she glanced at me. "Mom and I have been fighting."

"Yes, she told me," he said looking to me as well. I crossed my arms over my chest and gave Carrigan a serious look. She stuck her tongue out at me before turning her attention back to Gabriel. I shook my head and rolled my eyes. I suppose it was good to know that Carrigan still had her childish moments. She wasn't completely grown up. She was still innocent.

"It's not my fault she's being unreasonable," Carrigan chimed with a bob of her head. She appeared happy today. Perhaps Harry being brought to Number Twelve had given her something else to look forward to.

"She's had her reasons, Carrigan," Gabriel said as he glanced at me.

_If you tell her, there is no going back. _I said into his mind with Legilimency.

_ Do you not want me to tell her?_

_ Just not yet. Let's wait until after my appointment on the twelfth. I don't want to get her hopes up if the healer is going to say it's a slim chance to carry to term._

Gabriel nodded and looked back at Carrigan.

"What's going on?" she questioned.

"You don't know?" he asked with raised eyebrows. "Can't read our thoughts?"

"You're both blocking me."

"Well at least you have enough control of it now to know if we're blocking you," I said. Carrigan turned a harsh eye on me. She and I hadn't spoken since the disagreement last week in the kitchen after the Order meeting. She was too stubborn to admit that she understood why I did not want her running at night, and I was too proud to tell her I was sorry for snapping at her. Neither of us wanted to be the first to speak to the other because it would mean admitting we were wrong.

"The meeting is over already," Carrigan said as she looked back at Gabriel. I frowned. She didn't even want to look at me. "Dinner is ready. You should come see Harry."

She left without another word.

"You two are too similar," Gabriel said looking at me as the door shut. "For Merlin's sake, what did you two argue about that has caused the room to freeze over when you're both in it?"

"She asked if she could go running at night with Benjamin and I said no," I shrugged. "It's just too dangerous. I told her that I would like her to run during the day and that you or I would go with her and Benjamin."

Gabriel nodded as he studied me. "You can't go jogging now."

"That's not the point."

Gabriel gave me a smile, which melted my heart. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me fiercely. "Let's get to dinner."

As we left the room, my heart skipped a beat. We had made the decision to the keep the baby. I had lied when I said I would regret it if I gave up the child and couldn't have any in the future. I had said what Gabriel wanted to hear. Gabriel didn't realize how slim the chances were for me to carry the child to term. Not only did we have to worry about the child being too powerful for me to carry, like Caspian had been, but I had a severely damaged uterus, covered in scar tissue. I was lucky I was even pregnant for a fourth time. I would be lucky if I didn't have a miscarriage. But, Carrigan was a miracle pregnancy. It was completely possible that this pregnancy would be a miracle, despite the constant danger.


	15. Information

As we descended the stairs towards the main floor, I noticed that there was a puzzled look on Gabriel's face. I paused for a moment on the stairs, catching his arm. He looked at me with raised eyebrows as we stopped. He glanced to Carrigan who was still descending the stairs before us.

"What's the matter?"

"I thought you took a test and it was negative," he whispered so Carrigan wouldn't hear us.

"I did," I admitted. "But I've completely missed my period. I took another and it came back positive."

Gabriel nodded his head as he studied me. "So, there is the possibility…"

His voice trailed off.

"At this point, anything is possible," I replied. "I just wanted to tell you before I went to the healers on the twelfth. Especially because I've been so worried about it."

Gabriel nodded his head and motioned for me to continue down the stairs in front of him. We caught up to Carrigan on the main floor in the foyer of the house. She raised her eyebrows at us as we appeared.

"Where'd you go?"

"Just stopped to have a private word," Gabriel said easily. He wrapped an arm around Carrigan's shoulders and guided her forward towards the basement stairs. I trailed behind, still thinking about the conversation Gabriel and I just had. Was it really possible that I wasn't pregnant? I didn't want to get my hopes up…

I stopped before descending the stairs and ran my fingers over my stomach. As I stood there, I thought of what it felt like to be pregnant with Carrigan and Caspian. I bit my bottom lip thinking of holding a new born baby in my arms as it slept peacefully. I blink and stood up straight, catching myself day-dreaming. I sighed bitterly and stepped forward down the stairs leading to the kitchen.

Everyone had gathered for dinner and few people had remained from the meeting: Bill Weasley (the eldest of the Weasley children), Mundungus, Tonks, and Remus had stayed after the meeting discussing with Arthur the finalized plans to guard the Department of Mysteries, while Molly and Sirius had gathered the children: Fred, George, Benjamin, Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry. My eyes fell on him instantly. He was sitting next to Sirius, talking quickly. As he spoke he looked up at me and stopped speaking. Sirius followed his gaze to me and gave me a winning smile.

"Gabriel, we were starting to wonder if you would ever return to us," Molly said as she made him a plate of stew and bread. He thanked her as she placed the food in front of him. He had taken a seat next to Remus and Bill.

"It's good to see you well," Arthur said with a nod.

"Welcome back," Remus clapped Gabriel's back.

"To the chaos," Sirius said with a smile. Gabriel looked directly at him and bowed his head in thanks.

Carrigan took a seat next to Ginny, who was being entertained by Tonks changing her nose as she ate. Carrigan immediately fell into conversation with Ginny and Hermione, but her eyes kept glancing across the table to Benjamin who wasn't speaking to anyone. I frowned as I studied him for a moment. Carrigan wasn't kidding when she said he was a loner. Perhaps that is why he did not want to go to Hogwarts.

"Cadence," Harry said my name.

"Hey," I said beaming at him. I gave him half of a hug as he remained in his chair and kissed his forehead. "I'm happy you're here. I'm sorry I couldn't come retrieve you."

"It's fine," Harry returned. "Sirius explained that you were at St. Mungo's."

I moved to the opposite side of Sirius and took a seat next to him, so he sat between Harry and I. Molly was just setting out dessert when I sat down. She passed me a plate of stew, which I was thankful for, I hadn't eaten all day.

"How has it been since the Dementor attack?" I asked leaning forward to look past Sirius.

"Fine," he said with gritted teeth. "Carri is the only one who was responding to my letters."

I looked directly at Carrigan for a moment, then back at Harry. "Was she putting any details in her letters?"

"No," he said. "She was just responding. It was hard to get a response from Ron or Hermione."

"They've been busy cleaning the house," I replied. "Carrigan gets out of cleaning because of her lessons with Benjamin."

"Yea," Harry leaned in closer to Sirius. "I don't know where you guys found him, but I get a weird feeling from him."

Sirius nodded his head once and looked at me with a 'told-you-so' expression on his face. I rolled my eyes. Harry didn't understand that Benjamin was Carrigan's Guardian, a mythical guide to powerful young witches and wizards. Most of the population didn't believe in them, especially since they were so rare. So, in Harry's eyes, Benjamin was just a random kid we met and were showing trust to.

"Harry," I said softly. "Benjamin is not some kid I picked off the streets to give private lessons to Carrigan. You have to understand that she has very strong powers and only certain people are capable of training her."

"Why not Gabriel?" Harry asked honestly. I smiled at him.

"Why don't you trust Benjamin?"

"It's just a feeling."

"Well you shouldn't trust anyone," I responded. "The most important thing is that Carrigan trusts him. And you two had better keep your distrust to yourselves. She doesn't need you questioning her gut."

Harry frowned and nodded his head, realizing he had crossed a line. He sat back in his chair and helped himself his third serving of rhubarb crumble that was being passed around the table. Sirius had a spoonful, and handed the dish to me, which I graciously passed on to Arthur next to me.

"I think it's time for bed," Molly announced because no one appeared to be eating much anymore.

"Hold on," Sirius said as he put down his glass of wine and looked to Harry. "I'm surprised at you. You haven't asked one question about Voldemort."

I frowned slightly as the demeanor in the room changed drastically. Everyone had been relaxed and cheerful as the meal drew to a close; chatting away as if we were not living in a dangerous time. They were enjoying the simple things of life—food, company and love. The moment Sirius said my father name everything changed. All conversation stopped. The air was tense and alert, as if people were afraid that Voldemort may bust into the kitchen at any moment.

"I did ask questions," Harry said quickly to Sirius. "I asked Ron and Hermione, but they said we're too young to be in the Order—"

"And they're right," Molly said sharply standing over the table. "You're too young." She was rigid with sternness.

"I'm not asking to be in the Order, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said quickly. "I just want to know what is going on."

"Since when does someone have to be in the Order to ask questions?" Sirius said smartly. "Harry's been stuck in that Muggle house all summer without any knowledge of what has been going on—"

"Hang on!" interrupted George. "Harry gets his questions answered, but we don't?"

"Yea, we've been begging you for a month to tell us what's been going on!" Fred joined in. "Harry isn't even of age!"

"What your parents decide to tell you is their decision," Sirius replied to the Weasley twins. "Harry, on the other hand—"

"It is not up to you to decide what is best for Harry," Molly cut Sirius off. I frowned deeply as I stared at Molly. "You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, have you Sirius?"

"Which bit?" Sirius replied with a bittersweet smile. I put my head in my hand and messaged my temples strongly with a sigh. This was not going to go well. Sirius had been in such a horrible mood the last few weeks that the worst thing Molly could do was patronize his responsibilities to the Order and to Harry. I admitted that Sirius was reckless with his behavior and often acted as if Harry was James and not a teenage boy who needed guidance and protection, but Sirius never put Harry at risk. I saw nothing wrong with giving Harry information, he had to be prepared for the war that we were about to fight.

"The bit about not telling Harry more then he needs to know," Molly said crossly.

"I was not intending on telling him more then he needs to know," Sirius said. "But seeing as he is the one who witnessed Voldemort's return he has more of a right then most to—"

"He is not a member of the Order! He is only fifteen years old!" Molly insisted. She was turning red in the face, and Sirius was sitting up straight in his chair with every word that they exchanged.

"He's done and seen more then most of the Order combined!"

"No body is questioning his abilities—"

"—he is not a child, Molly!"

"But he's not an adult either!" she raged back. "He's not James, Sirius. You seem to forget that often. You act like you have your best friend back!"

"What's wrong with that?" questioned Harry.

Molly turned her harsh eyes to him and they softened slightly. "What's wrong Harry, is that you're not your father, despite how much you look like him. You're still in school and the adults responsible for you should not forget that!"

"Are you implying I'm an irresponsible godfather!?" Sirius raised his voice as he gripped the arms of his chair tightly.

"I'm implying that you have a tendency to act rashly, Sirius! There is a reason that Dumbledore keeps reminding you to stay at home and—"

"Please leave my orders from Dumbledore out of this!" Sirius yelled sharply.

"Enough!" I shouted sternly as I hit my hand on the table. "Please, you're acting worse then the children, right in front of them!"

"Arthur," Molly turned to her husband. "Please, help me here."

Arthur frowned and did not answer his wife instantly. He took off his glasses, cleaned them with his shirt and replaced them on his nose before he spoke.

"Molly, I expect that Dumbledore knows things will change now that Harry is here at headquarters," he said quietly. "I'm sure he is anticipating that Harry has questions."

"Personally, I think that it best Harry hears information—not all of it Molly, but the general picture—from us and not from third parties who may overhear our conversations," Remus said as his eyes glanced at Fred and George who sunk back in their chairs. His expression was calm, as it often was. Remus had a way of remaining calm and focused while others (like Sirius and myself) lost their cool.

"Well," Molly fixed her shirt and stood up straight. "I can see I'm being overruled. Let me say though, Dumbledore has his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and as someone who has Harry's best interests at heart—"

"He's not your son," Sirius said.

"He's as good as!" Molly snipped back as she leaned across the table glaring viciously at Sirius. "Who else does he have?"

"He's got me!" Sirius yelled.

"It's been difficult for you to keep an eye on your own child, let alone Harry while you've been locked away in Azkaban," Molly's blow was low.

Sirius began to rise out of his chair. I grabbed his arm and looked up at him with begging eyes. I could see Carrigan across the room with her head in her hands. When Molly made the comment of Sirius' ability to take care of her she looked up at him with sad sullen eyes. I wasn't sure if she was embarrassed or afraid of what Sirius might say.

"Please," I whispered up at him as he shook his arm, trying to get me off of him.

"Molly, you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry's well being," Remus said sternly. "Sirius, _sit down_."

Sirius blinked and looked at Remus who was giving him a stern, professor-like, stare. Sirius rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, grunting and crossing his arms tightly over his chest.

"I think we should hear Harry's input," Remus continued. "He is old enough to decide."

"I want to know what's been going on," Harry said almost instantly. I noticed that he did not look up at Molly, who was red in the face with fury.

"Very well," Molly sighed with defeat. Her voice cracked as she spoke. "Everyone else, out of this kitchen, right now!"

"What!?" Fred and George immediately retorted with defiance. "Harry isn't even of age, we should stay!"

"I said out of this kitchen, now!" Molly yelled at her children. "Hermione, you too!"

The uproar continued, with Ron and Ginny arguing against their mother just as feverishly. I sat back in my chair and blocked it out. I couldn't listen to anymore arguing. I looked across the room to Carrigan, who was sitting quietly.

_You may stay if you wish,_ I said as she looked into my eyes.

_It's alright. I know what you're all going to talk about. _She replied with a smirk. I shouldn't have been surprised. Of course, Carrigan would have figured out what the Order was up to with her telekinetic abilities. _Ben and I have some stuff to work on._

I nodded my head, then she stood up as Molly dragged Ginny from the room.

"Good night, everyone," she said peacefully as she moved around the table. She stopped at Sirius first and kissed his cheek. She whispered something in his ear before pulling away. Sirius gave her a tired smile.

"Thank you," he said. "Good night, Carrigan."

She bid me good night, with a mild chill to her voice. Then kissed Gabriel's cheek and wished him sweet dreams. Benjamin stood up from the table and said his farewells, then they both disappeared up the stairs to the main floor of the house.

"Okay, Harry," Sirius said once the kitchen settled down again. "What do you want to know?"

"Where's Voldemort? What's he doing?"

"Nothing," I replied softly. "Well, not in the open anyways."

"What?" Harry said confused. "Why isn't he out killing people?"

"To our knowledge he hasn't killed anyone since June," Sirius said. "And we know a great deal."

"More then he thinks we do," Remus nodded.

"He's taking advantage of the Minister not believe he has returned," I said easily. "He's acting in secret, doing so requires not drawing attention to the fact that he has returned."

"Only his Death Eaters were supposed to know he had returned in June, but you ruined that for him," Sirius said with a large grin.

"How did that help?"

"It guaranteed that Dumbledore knew of his return," Remus said.

"And if there is one person my father did not want to know he had returned it was Dumbledore," I said.

"Thanks to you, Harry," Gabriel said carefully. "Dumbledore was able to recall the Order within the night of Voldemort's return. Even if the Ministry and the general public don't believe he is back, we have been able to start fighting against him."

"What have you all been doing then?"

"Working as hard as possible to make sure that he cannot carry out his plans," said Bill with a smile.

"How do you know his plans?"

"Well, Dumbledore has an idea of what he's up to," Remus said. "And Dumbledore is usually right when it comes to Voldemort."

"So, what does Dumbledore think he's up to?"

"First of all, he has to rebuild his army," Sirius responded. "In the first war, he had huge numbers at his command: people he bullied and bewitched to follow him, his Death Eaters, and all sorts of Dark creatures. He not going to try to take the Ministry with only a handful of Death Eaters, so you can bet he's rebuilding his army."

"So, you're trying to stop him from gaining followers?"

"Trying being the key word," Remus said sadly. "It's proving to be harder then we anticipated."

"How so?"

"The main thing we've been trying to do is conscious raising," Bill said. "Spreading the word that You-Know-Who has returned."

"But the Ministry's attitude is making that very difficult," Tonks piped in. "Fudge hasn't changed his position since June. He refuses to believe that You-Know-Who is back."

"Even worse," I added. "He's preventing us from investigating crimes that may be linked to Voldemort."

"Why?" Harry questioned sharply with anger. "Why is he being so stupid? If Dumbledore says—"

"Well that's exactly it Harry," Arthur said. "_Dumbledore_."

"What?" Harry looked bewildered.

"Fudge is afraid of him," Tonks shrugged.

"Afraid of what he's up to," Arthur nodded. "Fudge doesn't want to believe that You-Know-Who is back, so he believes that Dumbledore is plotting to over-throw him. He thinks that Dumbledore wants to be Minister of Magic."

"But Dumbledore doesn't want—"

"Of course he doesn't. He's never wanted the job, despite people encouraging him to take the position when Millicent Bagnold was murdered. Dumbledore has always had popular support, and that's what worries Fudge."

"Why would he think that Dumbledore just wants to cause trouble?" Harry persisted. "That I would lie about—"

"Because it's easier to believe that you two are trouble makers then own up to the fact that my father has returned," I said sadly. "It's easier to believe all that then to face the fact that the Ministry is in deep—"

"Accepting that Voldemort is back would mean more trouble then the Ministry is prepared to deal with," Remus cut me off from swearing in front of the children. "They haven't had to deal with this type of evil in fourteen years and they're not prepared for it."

"What else is he up to?" Harry asked. "Besides trying to gain followers?"

"Well, we think he's after a weapon right now. Something he didn't have last time," Sirius said.

"When he was powerful before?"

"Yes."

"What kind of weapon?" Harry questioned. "Something worse then death—"

"That's enough."

Everyone stopped and turned in their chair to see Molly standing at the base of the stairs, leaning in the door frame of the kitchen with her arms tightly crossed over her chest. She was still red in the face from her argument with Sirius.

"All of you, to bed, now," she spoke sternly.

"You can't boss us around—" Fred started to say.

"Watch me," she said crossly to her deviant son. The look she gave him was ravaged, like a wild animal that would attack at any moment. "You've given Harry plenty of information. Any more and you might as well induct him into the Order."

"Why not?" Harry said quickly. "I'll join! I want to fight—"

"No."

It was Remus who had stopped Harry from going on. He was looking at Harry with stern, yet weary, eyes.

"The Order is for of age witches and wizards," he said. "Who are out of school," he added glancing at Fred and George. "There are dangerous that not even you, Harry, could fathom. I think Molly is right, it is best that you are all off to bed."

Sirius shrugged and sat back in his chair, looking grumpy, but he did not argue. I took a quick sip of his unfinished wine and watched as one, by one, each of the children stood up and left the kitchen. There was no doubt in my mind that they would all discuss what they had been told the moment they reached their bunks.

"I'm afraid I'm going to turn in too," said Bill with a yawn. Arthur clapped his son's back and said good night as he stood.

"I'll be heading out too," Tonks stood up and pulled on her cloak. "Come on, Dung. You'd best be getting out of here."

"Right, right," he said as he scratched his chin and stood.

"Good night," I said politely as Arthur, Bill, Tonks and Mundungus made their way from the kitchen, exchanging good-byes with everyone else. Once the commotion had settled, I found I was sitting with Remus, Sirius and Gabriel, quietly drinking their wine.

"It was uncalled for," Sirius broke the silence first. "The way Molly—"

"It's over with," Remus said quickly. "Let it be, Sirius."

"I may be rash, but I am not an irresponsible godfather, or father for that matter!"

"Stop worrying about what other people think," I said sternly. "What did Carrigan say to you before she went to bed?"

"Just said I'm not an irresponsible father," he replied. "I do the best I can…" His voice faded as he swished the wine in his glass. I frowned deeply because I could see in his eyes that he was sinking into another depression. It was possible that he believed and agreed with everything Molly had said, even though he wouldn't admit it.

"When is Harry's trial?" I asked softly.

"The twelfth," Remus replied. My heart dropped into my stomach. That was the date of my doctor's appointment. "Arthur thought he could take him into work if you've got a case."

"Dumbledore won't allow me to go," Sirius shook his head.

"I would think not," I said quickly. "You'd be crazy to go parading around the Ministry when you're a wanted murderer!"

"I know," Sirius said quickly. "The only relief I have is that you'll be going with him."

"Actually," I hesitated because I wasn't sure if I wanted to inform Sirius and Remus of my pregnancy. Gabriel looked at me with curious eyes, but didn't say anything. "I won't be able to go."

"Why the hell not?" Sirius asked quickly.

"I have a doctor's appointment."

"Well reschedule it," he snapped at me. "Harry could be expelled for Merlin's sake. You have to be there—"

"Do not take that tone with me, Sirius," I snapped right back. "I can't reschedule this appointment. I'm already over due."

"For what?" Remus asked with sincere concern on his face. I noted that he seemed to recall the brief discussion I had with him and Sirius about my fears of being pregnant. Sirius, couldn't remember a damn thing. He was so narrowed minded and only worried about his selfish issues.

"I'm going to have a baby," I whispered. I regretted saying it the moment it came from my mouth because the color drained from Sirius' cheeks. Gabriel reached forward onto the table and took my hand, giving it a squeeze.

"We're going to have a baby," he corrected as he gave me a weak smile. I couldn't help but return his smile.

"I'm happy for you two," Remus beamed.

Sirius looked at us with disdain. He picked up his glass and drained it of the wine, then stood up and reached across the table for the full bottle. He sat back down and drank straight from the bottle.

"Great," he said. "Good for you."

I frowned deeply as silence fell in the kitchen again. Sirius' word were bittersweet and dipped in sarcasm. I wanted to smack him. I knew I shouldn't have said anything to him. I realized in that moment that Gabriel and I had to find our own home. We could not remain at Number Twelve if we were going to have a baby. We needed a place of our own…and Sirius' attitude made it easy to move out. There was no way I could raise a child with him drowning himself in bottles of liquor in the same house.

There was such a thing as too much information. Harry had been given just the right amount to satisfy his curiosity about Voldemort and the Order, but not to get him into trouble. The information of my pregnancy was too much for Sirius. Now, he was going to drink himself to sleep.


	16. The Twelfth

On the morning of the twelfth there was a tense edge to the air in the kitchen when I arrived. I frowned as I looked at Harry. He was sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of porridge and plate of toast in front of him, but wasn't eating a bite. He looked pale white and nervous. I didn't blame him. I had been on trail before. Mind you, it was for being a Death Eater, but I had faced that crowd of counselors just the same and nervously waited for them to decide my fate when they didn't know a single thing about me or my character. Harry would be fine. There was really no case against him. He had defended himself and his cousin in a situation that could have resulted in their death—or worse. I just hoped that Minister pulled his head from his ass long enough to realize that Harry was telling the truth.

"Harry, why don't you eat," Mrs. Weasley encouraged.

"I'm not hungry," he said shaking his head.

"I don't like to eat when I'm nervous either," I said sitting down next to him.

"You should eat something," Sirius said softly, despite his chilling demeanor that morning. "Before you go to the doctors."

He had seemed to accept my news and turned his negative attitude around. While it was obvious that he was not happy about me being pregnant, or being able to attend Harry's trail, he was at least attempting to be supportive and polite. Gabriel put down his paper and looked at me from across the table.

"He's right," he said nodding at Sirius.

"I hate it when you two gang up on me," I said as I picked up a piece of toast from Harry's plate and began to eat it.

"Why are you nervous about the doctors?" Harry asked.

I shrugged. "A lot of things could come of it," I replied. "I'm just nervous about being uncertain."

"Me too," Harry nodded. "What if I get expelled?"

"First of all," Sirius said. "You won't. But secondly, if you do, we'll worry about it then."

"Thanks," Harry muttered. Sirius frowned as he leaned back in his chair. I glanced between him and Gabriel with a weak smile.

"Good morning," Carrigan said sullenly as she entered the kitchen. Her midnight blue eyes immediately fell on Harry who was slouching in his chair. She made her way to him and hugged him from behind as he sat in his chair. Her head rested on his shoulder as she squeezed him tightly. "You look sharp. That suit alone will convince the counsel."

Harry forced a smile. "Thanks, Carri."

"No problem," she said standing up. "You don't want your toast?"

"No," Harry shook his head. "You can have it."

Carrigan leaned over him and picked up the piece of toast still sitting on the plate.

"Well, Harry, I think we'd best be off," Arthur said standing up. "We'll be a early but I think you'll be better off waiting there then here."

Harry nodded. "Alright."

Carrigan stepped back to let him stand up from his chair. He turned around and she hugged him again before he made to leave. He patted her back and kissed her cheek politely.

"Good bye everyone," he said before following Arthur out of the basement. Molly set a pot of tea on the table and looked around before excusing herself. She wanted to finish some laundry before the other children woke up. I figured she really didn't want to be in the same room as Sirius. Since their disagreement when Harry arrived, Molly scarcely remained in the same room as Sirius for long.

"What are you doing up this early?" I asked looking at Carrigan. She looked directly at me with a frank smile.

"Are you going to tell me why you're going to the doctors?"

I rolled my eyes. "Who is the parent in this relationship?" I motioned between her and myself. She smirked as she leaned on the chair, making it apparent that she wasn't going to answer my question. She didn't have to though. Benjamin entered the kitchen within moments of my speaking. If they were both up that early they were going to be training. I was puzzled that Carrigan was still in her pajamas of a tee shirt and shorts. Usually for training she was dressed in athletic clothing.

"Good morning everyone," Benjamin said pleasantly. He stopped next to Carrigan and looked her over. "Why aren't you sitting?"

"Am I not allowed to stand?" She stood up straight and looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, it's going to be a fantastic day," he said moving behind her to sit down next to Gabriel. "You're not dressed for jogging and you're not sitting and eating. Are you not happy with our plans for today?"

"I came down to wish Harry good luck and good bye before I changed," Carrigan responded with a snotty tone.

Benjamin looked to the clock on the wall. "If I do recall correctly,_ you_ wanted to be training by six thirty this morning," he fired back. "It is a quarter after six."

"I have fifteen minutes. I swear Ben, if you're going to be harping on me like this I take back my idea to have you come to Hogwarts."

Carrigan turned on her heel at the end of the comment and walked to the stairs to return to her room two floors above us. Benjamin followed her with his eyes and shook his head viciously. He made to yell after her, but I interrupted him.

"There is no point, Benjamin," I advised. "She will always have the last word."

He sighed and nodded at me. "She is impossible. One moment she is scared to death to fight because she does not want to take the responsibility that comes with taking a person's life, the next moment she is sure and confident, ready to meet a fight head-on. She is a walking contradiction of emotions and thoughts."

"At least she's turned her attitude around," said Gabriel as he folded up the paper. He threw it down on the table and picked up his cup of coffee. His eyes fell on me for a few moments before he continued speaking. "You said she's been doing better, Benjamin."

"Yes," he nodded. "She snapped out of whatever spell she was under. She's been kicking my ass constantly. I think she's trying to prove she doesn't need me to go to Hogwarts with her. If her distaste for me is what motivates her to be better, then that is what is necessary."

Benjamin's last comment was grim. He looked disappointed, but strong, as he poured himself a cup of coffee. He was willing to take the burden of Carrigan's hatred if it meant her becoming stronger. Only a Guardian could remain in a relationship that was so ambivalent and distasteful.

"You'll need patients, Benjamin," Gabriel said soundly. "Carrigan, is like _both_ of her parents."

"What does that mean?" Sirius questioned.

"You and Cadence are head-strong, stubborn and intolerable," Gabriel shrugged. As he looked away from Sirius he gave me a charming, half-cocked smile. His grin made my legs shake with sexual desire. I bit my bottom lip and sighed slightly. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, I'll be fine," I replied.

"She is still having those dreams, Cadence," Benjamin said as if Gabriel had not changed the subject for a split second. "She still won't talk about them, though."

"I don't blame her," Sirius shrugged. He rubbed his face and shook it with fatigue. As he yawned, he stretched to stand up from his chair. "I'm heading back to bed. Let me know what the doctor says, Cadence. I'm betting it's a girl—"

"Sirius!" I snapped with exasperation as my eyes fell on Benjamin who did not looked surprised by the comment.

"Sorry," Sirius sighed. "Didn't realize it was a secret…"

He trailed out of the kitchen without another word. My green eyed glare followed him until he completely disappeared from sight. If I didn't know better, I'd say he intended to say such a thing in front of Benjamin.

"I already knew," Benjamin said to break the silence.

"Excuse me?" I immediately looked at Gabriel with a dirty look.

"I didn't say a thing," he shook his head.

"He didn't," Benjamin insisted. "Carrigan told me."

"How the hell does Carrigan know?"

Benjamin shrugged. "She expressed concern three nights ago when we were working on Occlumency. She asked me if I knew anything about why relationships between Guardians and their students are forbidden. She wondered if the pregnancy will lead to your death, rather then Voldemort murdering you."

"That's ridiculous—" Gabriel started to say.

"It's not," I interjected quickly.

Before Gabriel could argue my comment, Carrigan appeared in the kitchen again. Benjamin took one look at her and sighed heavily. She was wearing tight red pants, black combat boots, a white tank top and black bomber jacket.

"Benjamin," she said turning to him. "I'm going with Mom to the doctors."

"What?" I said surprised.

Carrigan focused her attention on me. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to go to the doctors with you. I just want to be there for you."

I studied Carrigan soundly with intense eyes. She threw her brown hair out of her face, much like I did, and gazed straight back at me with purpose in her stare. Her hands were placed on her hips as she stood with her weight displaced onto the left hip. She looked older then thirteen. It was moments like this that made me question my parenting. It was not the first time that Carrigan had dressed like a dangerous creature that would terrify most people. If she did come with me, people would stare at her as we walked down the street, not just because of the rebellious style of dress, but because of the daggers sticking out of her boots. She did not look like an innocent thirteen year old girl. She looked like a deviant juvenile who needed to be watched closely. Had I done her wrong? Had I taken away her innocence? I wondered this often, but it didn't seem like we lived in a time for innocence.

"I think it's a good idea to let her go, Cadence," Gabriel said. I blinked and looked at him, turning away from Carrigan.

"Of course," I smiled. "Yes, Carrigan, you can come. But how did you know?"

"I overheard you and Gabriel in your room before I knocked on the door," she shrugged casually, as if it weren't a big deal. "I'm a little hurt that you didn't tell me."

"I didn't want to get your hopes up."

"I understand," Carrigan nodded her head. "They aren't up."

I began to stand up from the table, glancing at the clock. It was a little after six thirty. My appointment was at a quarter after seven.

"We had better get going."

"Carrigan," Benjamin said as he remained in his chair. "We will have to train this afternoon, once you're back."

"I know," she said with a nod. "Thank you for understanding, Ben."

"Like I could have stopped you, even if I didn't understand," he said with a smile to her. Carrigan beamed and leaned over him, kissing his cheek. Gabriel raised his eyebrows at the sign of affection as he moved to me. He was dressed smartly today, in a black suit with matching waistcoat over a sapphire blue button up that matched his eyes.

"I will walk you out," he said nodding his head towards the stairs. There was no point in arguing with him. He was going to be heading to work anyways. Gabriel wrapped his arm around me as we made our way for the stairs. He let me up them first, following close behind. In the foyer, before Carrigan arrived, he pulled me tightly to his chest from behind and kissed my neck seductively. He buried his face in my hair, close to my ear, as his hands rubbed my stomach gently.

"I love you," he whispered in my ear.

I pulled out of his arms and turned to look up at him. "I know," I smiled. I cupped his cheeks before standing on my toes and kissing his lips. "It will be fine," I said mostly to comfort myself. He nodded in agreement as I pulled away to retrieve my cloak from the coat stand. He helped me into it, like a gentleman, as Carrigan appeared in the foyer.

"Ready?" she asked while zipping her coat.

"Yes," I nodded. Gabriel bent over and picked up his brief case before opening the door.

"You're sure you want to walk?"

"I want to enjoy the fresh air," I said with a nod. "Will you tell Scrimgeour I'll be in this afternoon?"

"Of course. Athena will be thrilled…"

I smiled. "I am too."

We exited the house into the quiet square. Gabriel looked around with paranoid eyes as he led us down the porch steps and through the square to the streets leading into the heart of London. He took my hand as we walked into the city with Carrigan in front of us. The streets were full of Muggle cars making their morning commute to work, and the sidewalks full of people moving about for coffee, newspapers, and the metro station.

I was not expecting Gabriel to walk Carrigan and I all the way to St. Mungo's, but when he did I wasn't truly surprised. Judging by the way he acted a year ago when I was pregnant, I knew he was going to be over-protective this time around. I'm sure he was thinking that if he protected me better, perhaps we wouldn't loose this baby. He still didn't seem to understand the risk of the pregnancy simply because he was a Guardian and I was his student.

"Be good girls," he advised. He kissed me on the lips and then Carrigan on the forehead. "Watch out for you Mom."

"Can do," Carrigan beamed with a slight bounce as she stood up straight. "Have a good day at work."

Gabriel winked at us before turning and walking away down the street. Carrigan looked up at me and I motioned for her to enter St. Mungo's first, through the abandoned Muggle shopping complex. She climbed into the display window and took the mannequin's hand, announcing that there were visitors outside the entrance. We began to walk forward and straight through the wall of the display into the busy waiting room of St. Mungo's. When I turned to look behind us, I saw the magical wall was decorated with windows that looked out onto London's busy street.

I made my way to the check-in desk, with Carrigan following me.

"Excuse me," I said to the receptionist. She looked up at me with batty blue eyes. "Where should I be going if I have an appointment with Healer O'Brien?"

"To the elevators and up to the tenth floor," the receptionist said as her blond hair bobbed and her freckles crinkled with her nose. "You must be having a baby! Congratulations!"

"Uh yea, thanks," I forced a smile. Carrigan giggled as we walked away from the desk towards the elevator.

"I'm sorry you're not more excited about the baby," she whispered as I pressed the button for the lift to arrive.

"It's not that I'm not excited," I replied. "I'm just overwhelmed with worry about it all. Especially after what happened last time."

"You had an accident last time," Carrigan said matter-of-factly. "You'll be more careful this time. We all will."

"Carrigan," I sighed with exhaustion. We stepped into the elevator once it arrived, thankfully it was empty and we were left alone. "I would have lost the baby even if I didn't fall down the stairs. Because of everything my body has been through there is a great deal of scar tissue on my uterus that limits pregnancy. It's a miracle I'm pregnant, but there is a very slim chance I will carry the child to term."

"Well you can't have that negative attitude," Carrigan said wisely while we waited for the lift to arrive at the tenth floor. "You have to be positive that this baby will be here. And when he or she arrives Gabriel, you and me will do an excellent job protecting them."

"Oh yea?" I smiled. "You're going to help us protect the baby?"

"It's my baby sister or brother you're talking about," Carrigan responded quickly. She looked at me like I was crazy. "Of course, I'm going to protect them!"

I beamed with happiness. Carrigan had a way of reminding me of the simple joys in life. Perhaps everything was going to be okay…

The lift opened and we stepped out into a peacefully quiet waiting room that was decorated in pastel baby colors. My stomach rolled with discomfort because the colors made me sick. I was never one to care for pinks and purples, baby toys or clothes. I weaved through the chairs in the waiting room and went to the check-in desk.

"Hello," the bubbly receptionist said with a grin. She was a young red-head with dark brown eyes and pale skin. Her lips were ruby red, and her robes were pastel rose pink. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine," I said easily. "I'm Cadence Coleman. I have an appointment with Healer O'Brien."

"Alrighty," the receptionist opened her date book and dragged her finger down the list of names. She stopped next to my name. "Right on time!" She stood up. "Come this way, we have an exam room ready for you. Healer O'Brien will be with you in a few moments."

She lead us down a long hallway with doors on either side. All of the doors were closed, but I imagined they were to perfectly clean little exam rooms, like the one I was about to be in. The receptionist opened the last door on the right for me and waved me in. Carrigan followed suit.

"It will just be a few," the reception said.

"Thanks."

She closed the door, leaving Carrigan and I alone. Carrigan plopped down in a chair in the corner of the exam room and looked around. "I didn't know that St. Mungo's had a maternity wing."

"Where do you think all the babies are born?" I asked as I took off my coat. I threw it on Carrigan's lap, then sat down on the exam table.

"Well, you didn't come here last time," she responded. "I thought you went to a Muggle doctor."

"I did. But, I decided this time I should probably get some magical input."

Carrigan raised her eyebrows quizzically, but before she could ask the question that was on her mind, there was a knock on the exam room door. The door opened and a plump, short woman in white healer robes entered the room. She gave Carrigan and I a cheerful smile and moved to me at the table. Her hair was long, straight and black, and her eyes were a mysterious shade of grey-blue.

"Hello," she said cheerfully. "I'm Healer O'Brien."

She extended her hand to me, which I took and shook thankfully. "Cadence Coleman," I said. O'Brien looked at Carrigan and said hello. "My daughter, Carrigan."

"Hello," Carrigan said with a small wave.

"A pleasure," O'Brien said. "I understand that you're here because you believe you're pregnant."

"Yes," I nodded.

"Well, let's draw some blood and take a look," O'Brien smiled.

She pulled her wand from her cloak pocket and waved it at the empty space next to me on the table. A tray appeared with a rubber gloves, a vile, some needles and syringes. She put down her wand and pulled on the rubber gloves, while asking, "Can you please roll up your sleeve?"

I did as I was asked, rolling up my right sleeve so not to reveal the long scar on my left forearm. She smiled as she picked up her wand and tapped it against the inside of my elbow. I felt magic tingle through my arm, drawing my veins closer to the surface of my skin so they were easier to find. When she had found a vein, she put down her wand and picked up the needle. Within seconds I was poked and she was taking a blood sample. I had to turn my head away from a moment. Seeing my own blood run from my body into a syringe always made me squeamish.

Carrigan sat quietly in the corner, watching the healer with curious eyes. She had never seen a healer at work before and was intrigued by the work.

After the blood was drawn, and O'Brien had taken it down the hall to have some magical test run on it, she returned to do a check-up. She carefully touched my stomach, moving her fingers along my belly and hips, tapping and feeling if it was tender or firm. She frowned carefully, but when she caught me looking at her, gave me a calm smile.

"What is it?" I asked as she stepped back to retrieve her wand off the table.

"Nothing," she said with a cool voice. "Just normal check-up procedure."

"Your face says otherwise," I responded with some aggravation.

She ignored me and tapped her wand against my belly as she leaned forward, as if she were trying to listen. This seemed ridiculous to me because there was no way the fetus was large enough yet to _hear_, even with magic.

"Will you lay down please," O'Brien motioned for me to lay down on the exam table. I laid back and lifted my feet onto the table, then stretched across it. She leaned over me and drew the tip of her wand in a long rectangle on my torso, then tapped the center of the rectangle with her wand. I felt a cold chill rise through my body.

"I'm just making your abdomen transparent so I can take a look inside," she said. "It will feel cold, but I am only taking a look. I'm not doing anything invasive."

"Alright," I replied to acknowledge her.

"Alrighty," O'Brien stood up straight and tucked her wand away. "I will go get your test results and we'll see what we have…"

I frowned deeply as she retreated out of the room. Carrigan raised her eyebrows at me as I looked at her. I sat up straight on the table and swung my legs back over the sides as I lowered my shirt to cover my torso.

"Something isn't right," I whispered. She stood up and came to me next to the table, holding my cloak over her arm.

"I'm sure everything is fine," she replied touching my shoulder. "You're just being paranoid."

"This is why I went to a Muggle doctor last time," I snipped. "They're more talkative and tell you like it is. They don't dance around anything, saying 'it's just procedure.'"

I was so aggravated the jars of cotton balls and boxes of cleaning clothes started to vibrate on the counter across from the exam table. Carrigan gave me a surprised look. I hadn't caused anything to shake from anger with my powers in ages.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"You need to relax."

"I'm so happy I raised you right," I replied. "I don't know how I raised you to be a calm and responsible individual, but thank Merlin I did."

"It was Gabriel really," Carrigan said with a smirk. I laughed and rolled my eyes.

Within a few moments, healer O'Brien returned. I was surprised by how quickly she had results of my blood tests. It never ceased to amaze me how quickly and effectively magic worked.

"Ms. Coleman," she said seriously once she closed the door. "I'm very sorry to inform you, but you are not pregnant."

There was a horrid silence in the room following her statement. My skin crawled with goose bumps from discomfort and I shivered as Carrigan pulled her hand away to cover her mouth in shock. O'Brien was looking at me with sad, but purposefully, eyes. There was no doubt in her expression about what she was reporting.

"I don't understand," I whispered as I rubbed my temples with my eyes squeezed tightly shut. "I took two tests. The first was negative, but I completely missed my period, so I took another. It was positive. Now you're telling me that I'm _not_ pregnant?"

"I'm afraid not Ms. Coleman," the healer said. "Those take-home test aren't always exact, especially the Muggle ones. Your period can be effected by many things, especially stress, which you appear to be under a great deal of."

"You're sure?" I asked with mild disappointment in my voice. I was slightly relieved to hear the words that she was telling me. Carrigan stepped close to me and took my hand in hers again. She squeezed it tightly while peering at the healer.

"Absolutely," she nodded. "Your blood work is negative and your hormone levels are normal. You are not pregnant, and I'm afraid it isn't possible for you to get pregnant. There is far too much damage to your uterus. If you are set on having a child, may I suggest adopting? Or there, is an operation we can look into to remove the scar tissue, but it is no guarantee that you'll be able to get pregnant afterwards."

"No," I whispered shaking my head. "Thank you, but I'm not interested in adopting a baby or an operation."

The healer tapped my hand in a comforting manner. "I'm very sorry, Ms. Coleman. I'll leave you be. The nurse will come in with some papers for you to sign then you'll be on your way."

I nodded my head as I stared blankly at the floor. When the healer exited the room, Carrigan squeezed my hand tightly again. I looked up at her as she made to speak.

"I'm sorry, Mom," she sighed.

"It's alright," I replied. "It's for the best."

"But you wanted—"

"I only wanted another child because Gabriel did," I whispered sadly. "You're the only child I need, Carrigan. You have all my heart." I squeezed her hand in return and forced a beaming smile at her. She was looking at me with sad midnight eyes. She bit her bottom lip as she nodded her head, sadly understanding my position. "I'm fine. Are you?"

"Yes," she shrugged. "I mean, my hopes were up…but being upset isn't going to change the facts. How are you going to tell Gabriel?"

"I don't know," I sighed tiredly. "He's going to be disappointed."

"Can you blame him?"

I sighed and shook my head. I just wanted to go home and crawl into bed. I didn't want to go into the office anymore. I didn't want to face Gabriel and tell him it had all been a mistake; I couldn't face him after the fight we had, the decisions…the hope…I ran my fingers through my hair and dread filled my system as the door opened and a woman, dressed in similar robes as Healer O'Brien, came in with a clipboard. She explained the files I had to sign, but I was only half listening. I signed the papers and took my cloak from Carrigan before hopping off the table.

"We need to get out of here," I said breathlessly. "Please don't look so sad. I can barely keep myself composed with the thought of having to tell Gabriel. I can handle everything else but you being sad, Carrigan."

"Alright," she nodded.

The trip through St. Mungo's, back to the London street, was bone chillingly quiet. I could tell that Carrigan wanted to say something, but didn't know how to say it. When we were out on the street, leaving St. Mungo's in the distance, I stopped on a street corner to wait for the traffic light to change before we crossed the street. Carrigan stood next to me, with her bomber jacket zipped all the way up, looking sad.

"It's for the best," I whispered with a nod. I don't know if I was trying to reassure myself or Carrigan, but I couldn't take the silence anymore. "There is a war to be fought and having a baby would be foolish. It's for the best…"

"Is that how you're going to tell Gabriel?" Carrigan questioned as the traffic light changed. We stepped forward and crossed the street with a handful of other people once traffic stopped.

"Yea," I retorted sarcastically. "Something like that."

Carrigan rolled her eyes as we moved down the sidewalk. I felt a shiver crawl through my body, and out of instinct, I glanced over my shoulder. A face behind us stood out in the crowd to me. It was a tall man with slicked back black hair and matching goatee. He was dressed completely in black. He stood out, not just because I recognized him from the Leaky Caldron the night the bomb went off, but because his dark eyes were staring straight at me as he remained standing on the street corner that Carrigan and I had just left. People and traffic were moving around and in front of him, but he never flinched. He never seemed to blink or lose sit of us. I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and completely turned back to face the man in black. People cursed and snapped at me for stopping in the middle of the walk, but I blocked them out. The only thing that mattered was the man who was staring straight at me.

"Mom?" Carrigan questioned. She followed my stare and grabbed onto my arm.

"Go," I said quickly turning her around. "Go!"

As we broke out into a run, I looked over my shoulder and saw the man in black dashing after us. I grabbed onto Carrigan's hand and lead her around the next corner, heading into the heart of London. We weaved through the crowded streets, knocked shoulders and ran straight into people; it didn't matter, we had to move.

I wasn't sure who the man in black was, but obviously he had been after Mitchell Scott—who was now dead—and I had a strong feeling in my gut that he was responsible for the bomb that went off in the Leaky Caldron. If this man was following Carrigan and I, he could be an agent for my father who was tracking us. He could be after Carrigan. My stomach lurched in fear and discomfort.

"The alley!" Carrigan yelled pointing at an open alley between a restaurant and Starbucks coffee shop. She broke free from my grasping hand and dashed into the stopped traffic on the street. I screamed after her, and followed, furious that she had let go of my hand.

Cars honked wildly at us as we darted through them while they stood waiting for the light to change. Carrigan stepped onto a tire and leapt on the hood of a blue checkered taxi because there was not enough space for her to squeeze between the bumpers of the cars. The taxi driver laid on the horn, leaned out his window and screamed, but Carrigan ignored him. I followed around the back of the taxi as she dashed across the street into the alley. Before I turned down the alley after her, I looked over my shoulder to see the man in block still following after us.

I turned the corner, seeing Carrigan only a few feet in front of me. She was heading straight for the seven foot fence at the end of the alley. Once we jumped it, there would probably be enough space between us and the man in black to Apparate. We had to be careful where we Apparated though; we couldn't be seen by any Muggles disappearing into thin air.

Carrigan was close to the fence when there was a loud crack in the alley that echoed off the brick walls around us. I skidded to a stop a different man, dressed in ragged old grey clothing, appeared and reached forward to grab onto Carrigan. She heard him appear behind her, and as he dived forward, she turned and lifted her foot straight into his stomach. I watched with mild pride as my thirteen year old daughter grabbed the arm of her attacker and flipped him straight over onto his back. Before I could pull my wand and stop her from kicking out the attacker's teeth, my body went flying to the right into the brick wall of the alley. I released a moan of pain as my body slammed against the wall. My ribs cracked in agony and the breath was knocked out of my lungs before I crumpled to trash-bins below me.

I jumped up feet first and brandished my wand towards the entrance of the alley where the man in black was stalking towards me. He flicked his wand, disarming me quickly. As my wand sailed away from me, I pulled the knife from my boot and threw it straight at the man's throat. To my horror, he snatched it out of the air, catching the tip and sent it flying straight back at me. I ducked down and the knife slammed into the wall behind me, then fell uselessly into the disheveled trash-bins.

Carrigan screamed, causing me to turn and see that her attacker had thrown her back into the fence. I advanced towards him, but the man in black caught me with his wand. He pulled me to the ground and dragged me across the pavement to his feet. He dropped his wand hand to his side as I rolled onto my back to look up at him. Before I could grab at him or move away he slammed his booted foot onto my stomach. I groaned as pain spread through my entire torso. Thank Merlin I wasn't pregnant, I thought.

The man dropped to one knee next to me, grabbed my hair and pulled my head back.

"What did Scott tell you about Cepheus?"

"What?" I stammered with confusion. The man in black pressed his wand against my throat. His dark eyes were a sharp contrast against his pale white skin. He looked waxy, half dead, now that I saw him close up.

Before another word could be said there was a horrid scream that echoed in the alley. The walls around us shook and blue light flashed, blinded me violently. I rolled to my side and covered my head as the man in black was blown away from me by the shock wave. When the shaking had stopped and the light ceased, I uncovered my face and rolled over as I sat up. Carrigan was on her knees, gasping for breath in front of the fence down the alley and the man that had been attacking her was gone. My eyes opened wide in terrified surprise.

I jumped up, looking over my shoulder to see the man in black on the ground still, and ran down to Carrigan. I grabbed her collar and pulled her to her feet with a beaming smile on my face.

"Good job," I said clapping her back as I wrapped her in my arms. She embraced me tightly as she continued to gasp for breath.

"Do you think I can skip training today?" she questioned looking up at me. I laughed as I looked down the alley. The man in black was still not moving.

"Let's get out of here," I said squeezing her tightly in my arms and thinking of the porch in front of Number Twelve Grimmauld place.


	17. Back to Work

I lost my balance when we arrived on the porch and fell back against the front door of Number Twelve. Carrigan fell against me, taking a sharp breath and grabbing her side. I stood up straight and helped her regain her balance.

"Are you alright?" I asked looking at him.

"I'm just feeling weak," she said as she leaned against me. I grabbed the knob of the door and twisted it, to my surprise it was locked. I sighed with annoyance and banged violently on the door. I didn't care if I woke every picture in the house, Carrigan needed to get inside. As I looked down at her, she leaned her head on my shoulder and shut her eyes while taking a slow, shallow breath. My heart rate increased at the thought of her being injured. When no one came to the door fast enough, I started to kick it with my foot; Carrigan slipped forward, requiring me to grab onto her with my other arm. I kicked the door more viciously while my daughter passed out in my arms.

"Oh, Carrigan," I muttered with worry as her body pressed into me. Despite being a thin teenage girl, Carrigan was deceivingly muscular and heavy. I groaned with discomfort as she pressed into my ribs, which I was sure were at least bruised if not broken.

Finally, Sirius opened the door, his wand drawn ready to strike. I was about to kick the door again when he pulled it open. His eyes grew wide as he took in the sight of me and Carrigan. I shoved the door open wider and dragged Carrigan's limp body into the foyer of Number Twelve.

"Cadence!" he looked down at Carrigan with horror. "What the hell happened?"

I laid Carrigan on the floor as quick feet could be heard moving in the upper floors of the house. No doubt, someone had been running through the halls stunning the screaming photographs, and now they were coming downstairs to see what the commotion was about.

I sat back on my butt next to Carrigan to catch my breath. Before I could say a word, Sirius was standing over me, with his wand pressed against my throat. His eyes darted back to Carrigan for a moment before he returned his midnight-blue stare to me.

"Where did we first kiss?" he asked.

"Common room at Hogwarts," I replied instantly. "In the dark. I put out the fire."

Sirius nodded as he pulled his wand away from my throat. His face relaxed and he knelt down next to me. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," I groaned with discomfort. I wrapped my arm around my waist to support my ribs. Sirius looked at me with concerned eyes. He reached forward and took my hand. "The baby?"

I frowned deeply at the comment. I decided to ignore it, and leaned forward over Carrigan.

"What's going on?" Molly's voice could be heard from the staircase. "Oh my!"

I looked up at her as she moved forward swiftly. She knelt down next to Carrigan and tilted her chin up, leaning over her. "She's just passed out. What the bloody hell happened?"

"Sirius, can you lift her? Move her upstairs to her room?" I questioned.

"Absolutely," he said. He stashed his wand into his pocket and stepped forward, cradling Carrigan's body in his arms before standing up straight. He moved towards the stairs as Molly helped me up, then we followed.

"We were attacked on the way back from St. Mungo's," I said as we moved up the stairs. "She used her energy to kill one of the attackers. It weakened her so much she passed out after I Apparated onto the porch."

"You never passed out from using your physical powers," Sirius said. Molly moved in front of him when we arrived on the second landing. She opened the girls' bedroom door and shooed Ginny and Hermione from sight. Both girls gasped at the sight of Carrigan.

"Is she okay?" Hermione asked.

"What happened?" Ginny demanded to know.

"It's fine girls," Molly said quickly. "Go help the boys in the sitting room. I will be down shortly. Carrigan will be fine."

She pushed both girls towards the stairs before turning to Sirius and I who were in the bedroom. Sirius carefully placed Carrigan on her bed. Once she was lying down he took a seat next to her and brushed her hair out of her face.

"You're sure it's just exhaustion?"

"Yes," I replied. "Until she wakes we won't know how injured she is…she didn't give her attacker much of a chance."

Sirius smirked as I stood next to him. His eyes did not leave Carrigan as he stroked her hair. Worry was spread across his entire face, breaking my heart.

"Do you need anything?" Molly asked with concern as she stuck her head into the door. "I'll put on a pot of tea."

"Can you ask Benjamin to come here?" I asked.

"Of course. Cadence, are you alright? You don't look well."

"I'm fine," I replied despite the pain spreading through my torso and the sharp pain that erupted in my side every time I took a breath. "Thank you, Molly."

"If you're sure," Molly muttered as she disappeared.

"Who was it that attacked you?" Sirius asked looking up at me.

"I don't know," I shook my head. "Death Eaters presumably. They weren't interested in taking Carrigan. They wanted to know what Mitchell Scott told me about Cepheus."

"What is Cepheus?"

"I have no idea," I frowned deeply. "But, whatever it was it got Mitchell killed and Gabriel blown up."

Sirius nodded his head and looked back to Carrigan. "She's breathing more regularly."

There was a gentle knock on the closed door. Before Sirius or I could grant entry, the door opened and Benjamin charged in with ridged concern in his ice blue eyes. "Mrs. Weasley said Carrigan had an accident?"

He approached the bed and stopped to stand next to Sirius. He sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest and studied Carrigan's mild expression.

"Actually, we were attacked," I said. "Carrigan used her powers to save us."

Benjamin turned his head directly to me, sending chills through my entire body with his icy intense stare. He stood up straighter with a frozen, muscular posture. "She was able to control it?"

"Yes," I replied. "But it has weakened her. She passed out on the porch after we Apparated."

Benjamin nodded. "She has not been fully exerting herself in training then. She is not prepared for how powerful she can be. I told you she did not comprehend her potential."

"Can we focus on the good?" Sirius questioned sharply. "Carrigan is safe and unharmed. She was able to protect you two when it mattered most. Let's not worry about what she has to keep working on."

"The point is, Sirius," Benjamin said quickly. "She needs to work on her ability to handle using her powers. She can't very well pass out in a fight every time she uses her powers."

"We can worry about that tomorrow," I said before Sirius could yell at Benjamin. "Later, Benjamin. Right now, I think we need to worry about the fact that who-ever killed Mitchell and set that bomb is still out there and he's looking for something."

"Cepheus," Sirius whispered with a nod. "Are you still going into work?"

My hand instinctively went to my aching side. "Yes," I said despite the pain. "I want to update Gabriel on what's happened and make sure that we are put on this case. Scrimgeour didn't want me on the bombing case, but I'm going to be on it now."

"I doubt he'll let you on it as you're a victim of it again," Sirius said softly. I gave him a harsh look, which caused him to shrug in response. "I will write to Dumbledore, see what he knows about Cepheus."

Sirius gave Carrigan's hand a squeeze before standing up and exiting the room. Benjamin glanced at me before taking a seat on the bed, as if he was looking for my permission to sit next to Carrigan. He didn't have to ask my permission of course, but his look surprised me. As he sat next to her, he stroked her hair and held her hand, much like Sirius had. I studied his expression as he looked down at her. I bit my bottom lip with some apprehension. Despite what Benjamin had told me weeks ago, I could see that he cared deeply for Carrigan. I patted his shoulders to comfort him before I made my leave.

"She'll be fine, Benjamin," I said softly. "You should be proud of what she did today."

"I mean no disrespect, Cadence," he said solemnly. "I am happy that Carrigan is well and she was able to fight off her attackers and save your life, but I am not proud of her. I am not proud that she is so neglectful during our training that she does not know how to fully use her powers or fully handle them when she does use them. I am not proud that I have been so lenient with her."

"You can't blame yourself."

"Can't I? I am her Guardian and I have done her wrong."

I frowned deeply. "No. You can only give her so much. Your job is to guide her and give her as much knowledge and information as possible. What she does with that knowledge and information is on her, not you."

Benjamin nodded in acknowledgement of my comment, but I'm sure he would only take some of it into consideration. He was a good Guardian because he would take responsibility for Carrigan even when he shouldn't. As I left the room, I looked back over my shoulder to him. He was still stroking Carrigan's hair. My heart lifted. I knew it was the right decision to send him to Hogwarts with her. It would be good for both of them.

Harry caught me on the descent to the main floor. He came out of the boys' bedroom just as I passed it and called my name. I paused, turning to look at him, and wincing in pain as my ribs pinched.

"Are you alright?" he asked instantly upon seeing me. I frowned and stood up straight, trying to mask my pain.

"Yea, I'm fine."

"Is Carrigan okay? Hermione said she was passed out?" he questioned with concern. I smiled lightly. It was nice to know that Carrigan had friends who cared about her well-being. Harry's green eyes were serious and intent. Despite my response to his first question, he was still looking at me with mild skepticism. He didn't believe I was alright. His expression made me realize that I was becoming a worse liar with my age.

"She is alright," I responded, while still holding my stomach.

"What happened?"

"We were attacked on the way back from St. Mungo's."

Harry looked even more concerned upon learning this information. "They were after Carrigan?"

"I'm not sure," I replied honestly. "Are you alright? How did the trial go?"

"Fine," he shrugged. "I haven't been expelled. I will return to Hogwarts."

"Good," I beamed. "I'm relieved."

Harry nodded and rubbed his elbow nervously. "But something is bothering you?"

"Just Sirius," Harry replied. "He was happy that I wasn't expelled, but it seemed like…"

I studied Harry as his voice trailed off. I stepped forward and lifted his chin so he was looking me in the eye. I had no doubt in my mind that within a years time he would be taller then me and would always look down at me. His green eyes filled with relief when I looked at him, but he still seemed troubled.

"He just shut himself up in his room," Harry stated. "Like he wasn't really happy that I would be leaving with everyone else in a few weeks."

"Sirius is a complicated man," I said hoping to ease his mind. There was no simple answer to Harry's concerns and hurt feelings. The only positive answer I could think of to say was that Sirius was a complicated man. He didn't want Harry to get expelled but he also hoped that Harry would be expelled so he could stay there at head quarters and Sirius wouldn't be alone.

"He can be an ass, sometimes," Harry said sharply. I frowned but nodded.

"Yes, as we all can be."

Harry shrugged. "It doesn't matter…I just wish that he wouldn't be so closed off. He's not the only one in pain. And he doesn't seem to realize that his attitude is what hurts other people."

"You and Carrigan have been talking, haven't you?" I questioned suddenly.

"Yes," Harry nodded. "Why do you think she came to me when she ran away?"

Of course. Carrigan had something in common with Harry when it came to Sirius Black. He was an absent father-figure in their lives; one that both of them were ambivalent towards. They loved his attention and caring, but hated his absences and bitterness. I didn't blame them. I had felt the same when I was in a relationship with the man.

"I have to get to work Harry," I said softly.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, it's nothing that time won't fix," I forced a smile.

"Is Carrigan awake?"

"Not yet," I replied soundly. "I would wait to hear from Benjamin before you try to see her."

Harry frowned deeply but nodded his head. He wasn't happy that Benjamin was sitting with Carrigan waiting for her to wake. Either he was jealous and wanted to be the one waiting with her, or he just didn't trust Benjamin.

"Alright, see you later," he said with a small wave. He turned and disappeared back into the bedroom.

I completed the journey down the stairs to the foyer. I headed straight for the door, but someone called me back before I reached it. I turned back, my cloak whirling around me dramatically, to see Sirius standing in the doorframe of the stairwell leading to the kitchen.

"I sent a letter to Dumbledore," he said. "When I here from him I'll send you a note."

"It can wait till tonight," I replied. "I don't want to draw attention to head quarters because of the birds leaving."

Sirius nodded. "If that's how you want it."

His tone was cold, which spiked my defenses. I stepped towards him. "Sirius, you need to be careful."

"Excuse me?"

"I just spoke to Harry—"

"—what did he say?"

I gave him an ugly look for interrupting me and rolled my shoulders back, preparing for a verbal fight that might break out. "He's picking up on your demeanor. He senses that you're not completely thrilled that he's going back to Hogwarts."

"That's ridiculous—"

"Is it?" I questioned with raised eyebrows. It was Sirius' turn to glare darkly at me. I crossed my arms over my chest and returned the vicious stare, not letting him force me to back down.

"Of course it is," he hissed. "Go to work. I'll see you later."

He turned on his heel and dashed up the stairs, disappearing from sight. I sighed with aggravation and turned to leave Number Twelve.

I Apparated straight from the front porch to my cubicle, which I had previously shared with Mitchell. I hadn't been into the office very much since the bombing, only long enough to meet with Scrimgeour twice to discuss my next assignment. He had refused to put me on the bombing case, leaving it to Athena Sawyer to investigate. The decision perturbed me beyond all belief. I wasn't allowed on the case because of my personal relationship to the victims, but Athena was? Didn't she have a personal relationship with Gabriel as his partner?

"Cadence!"

The voice calling my name surprised me, causing me to turn quickly on my heel and look into Gabriel Quintin's eyes. I smiled at the sight of him. His handsome figure was standing in the entrance of my cubicle, with his satin violet eyes staring at me with concern.

"Where have you been?" he questioned stepping into the cubicle. He looked me over and worry spread across his face. "What the bloody hell happened to you?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but found that I couldn't, simply because I was so happy to see him. I stepped forward and threw my arms around his broad shoulders, pressing my body tightly against him as we embraced. He kissed my forehead and stepped back, holding my chin and looking deeply in my eyes.

"Tell me what happened," he said carefully.

"Carrigan and I were attacked after leaving St. Mungo's," I replied easily. "She's fine!" I added quickly because his expression changed from worry to rage. "We're both fine."

He touched my side to pull me into his arms and I winced with a sharp in take of breath. He pulled his hands back and looked at me sharply. "Really?"

"So…I think I have a few broken ribs," I replied. "It's no big deal. What is a big deal is that the man in black, from the Leaky Caldron, he was the guy who followed us. Carrigan killed his accomplice who ambushed in an alley—actually she completely disintegrated him—"

"Really? Good for her."

"I don't know," I whispered sadly with a shake of my head. "She doesn't know how to fully use her powers. They weaken her so much that she passed out once I got her home."

"Well at least she had the sense to pass out at home instead of in the alley where you were attacked," Gabriel said. He looked at me sharply again and without saying a word, guided me to a chair, forcing me to sit down. I frowned deeply. "If your ribs are broken we need to get you straight back to St. Mungo's to make sure you and the baby are alright."

"Gabriel," I grabbed his hands and he looked at me with raised eyebrows. I couldn't bring myself to say it right away, especially as he looked at me with those handsome, loving eyes. I bit my bottom lip and shook my head. He responded by kneeling in front of me, his hands on the arms of the chair I was sitting in, as he looked up at me.

"They're sure?"

"Yes," I nodded with some relief that I wouldn't have to say it. "They did some blood test and looked into my body…it's not even possible for me to become pregnant."

"But the test, your missed period—"

"Stress related," I responded. Gabriel was frowning so deeply that I was afraid the lines on his face would become permanent. He nodded his head as he looked at the ground.

"It's alright," he said looking back up at me. "It's for the best, right?"

I frowned as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He leaned forward and placed his head on my breasts, allowing me to brush my fingers through his hair. We sat in silence for a few moments, until it was interrupted by Athena Sawyer's bomb-shell fit figure walking into the cubicle.

"I hate to break this up," her voice dripped with no sympathy. "But Gabriel, we have a meeting with Scrimgeour. Coleman, you should probably come along."

That was it. She pivoted, on her spiked high heels, and walked away from the cubicle, her curvaceous hips swaying as she strutted off. Gabriel pulled away from me and stood up, taking my hands and helping me stand.

"She still hasn't gotten any, has she?" I questioned.

"She takes her job very seriously," Gabriel shrugged. "Are you sure you're up for a meeting? You don't want to go back to St. Mungo's?"

"No, I hate that place. Besides, I really need to get back to work."

Gabriel looked me over with hesitant eyes as I stood up and made to move out of the cubicle. "If we're being made partners again do you think they'll put all three of us into one cubicle?"

"That's your biggest concern?"

I smiled at Gabriel as we walked towards Scrimgeour's office. "Yea, what's yours?"

"That you and Athena might kill each other."

"Well that's my relationship with most people, so I wouldn't be too worried."

Gabriel laughed softly and shook his head.

When we arrived in Scrimgeour's office I was not surprised to see him, with his lion main of white and grey hair, and Athena waiting for us. I was surprised, however, to see the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge present. He looked angry, red in the face and about to burst. Scrimgeour looked grim as he sat behind his desk.

"Sawyer, Quintin, please step out," he said as his eyes fell on me. "I will be with you both in a moment."

I raised my eyebrows high as Gabriel looked at me with worry.

_What did you do?_ He questioned as he peered at me sharply.

_Nothing!_ I insisted.

Scrimgeour and Fudge remained quiet as Athena and Gabriel carefully made their way from the office. Once the door closed behind Gabriel, breaking out stare, I turned and faced the two men. I folded my arms over my chest and waited for one of them to say something.

"Ms. Coleman," Scrimgeour said carefully. "As of Mr. Scott's death—"

"—murder," I corrected. "He was murdered."

Fudge twitched uncomfortably and glanced at Scrimgeour, who frowned and gave me a nasty look for interrupting him.

"Yes," he nodded. "The point, I'm afraid, is that some new facts have come to light."

"Concerning what?"

"That you harbored a fugitive for nearly half a year," Fudge burst with a sharp yell. His words hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Penelope Talon is dead," I said coolly. "Her case is closed—"

"It doesn't change the facts!" Fudge screamed.

"Minister, forgive me," I said too quickly for his liking. "But you seem to be selective about what you believe as fact." Fudge looked like he was about to burst, but I continued on before he could interrupt me. "Yes, I allowed Penelope Talon to stay at my house. That is a fact. It is also a fact that she was a trained assassin for Voldemort. It is a fact that while she was living under my roof she was spying on me and reporting back to him—"

"—You-Know-Who is dead—!"

"—it is a fact that I killed her in self defense in front of my Father—"

"—_you are severely out of line, Ms. Coleman!"_ Fudge yelled with such anger I thought his head really would explode from redness.

"It is a fact that Voldemort has returned!"

"ENOUGH!" Fudge screamed over me. "I have heard enough of your lies! You are hereby fired from the Ministry of Magic, stripped of your title and position as Auror and all awards that you have achieved with it."

"I haven't achieved any, so no worries there," I fired back without a second thought. I looked straight forward, away from Fudge, to Scrimgeour who was still sitting in his desk chair with a sad expression on his face. I knew that he did not want to see me go, but he was being overruled. "Just to be clear, what exactly am I being fired for?"

"For harboring a known fugitive and past Death Eater," Fudge spoke instantly even though I was asking Scrimgeour. "And for conspiracy against this office."

I looked at Fudge like he was crazy. "Excuse me?"

"You are conspiring against this office," he repeated. "Rufus has convinced me to be lenient with you. I should throw you into Azkaban. Now get your stuff and get the hell out of here."

"I can't wait for the day when Voldemort makes his return known to your babbling office of idiots," I said stepping towards Fudge. He stepped back, obviously intimidated by me. "When he makes it public and you crawl into a hole of shame because you could have saved hundreds of lives by listening to those who warned you, I'm going to laugh. You'll be begging for me to come back and I won't. I'm not interested in saving _this_ office."

"I will have you thrown into Azkaban if you do not leave this building within the next twenty minutes," he hissed back. He stepped pass me quickly, glaring sharply over his shoulder at me and Scrimgeour. "Get your people back to work! And make sure she gets out of here!"

Fudge slammed the office door sharply and loudly behind him when he left. I immediately turned to Scrimgeour with fire in my eyes as I stared at him. I had forgotten the pain in my sides my body was so full of rage at Fudge's actions and accusations.

"I'm sorry Cadence," he whispered. "I tried my best to reason with him."

"There is no reasoning with him," I retorted. I ran my hands through my hair as I released a long, tired sigh. "How did he find out about Talon?"

"It was in Scott's file on the case," Scrimgeour replied. "I thought you had been more careful."

"I thought I had too," I said sadly. "I never trust the man and he never trusted me though. Well…guess I had better go."

"Cadence," Scrimgeour said before I made my leave. "I have not openly stated that I believe what you say about your father, but when the time comes and I do need your help, will you be willing to give it?"

"To the best of my abilities, Sir," I nodded. "Until then, I'm going to enjoy my free time at home."

My voice trailed off and Scrimgeour gave me a knowing smile. He knew that I would probably be more productive in any investigation or fight against my father if I was not tied down my Ministry procedure and protocol.

I bowed slightly to Scrimgeour before exiting the office. Gabriel and Athena were standing outside, waiting to enter the office. Athena looked slightly uncomfortable, while Gabriel looked like he was going to set fire to the building. No doubt, they had over heard Fudge firing me.

"I think you can go in now," I motioned to the open door behind me with a frank smile. Athena bowed her head and walked pass me without a word.

"How can you be smiling?" Gabriel asked is a quick whisper.

"I've hated my job for a long time, Gabriel," I replied. "This is better. I will be able to do a lot more for the Order now."

Gabriel nodded his head, but still looked angry. I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek. "Go, get back to work. I will see you later."

"Go to St. Mungo's," he advised.

"No," I shook my head with a beaming grinning. "See you later tonight."

As I left Gabriel standing outside of Scrimgeour's office, I couldn't help but walk with a slight bounce in my step. Despite everything else that had happened that day, I knew that this was for the best and it was going to be okay.


	18. The Locket

Molly Weasley was standing on her tip toes on the top tier of a ladder she asked me to conjure so she could hang a ridiculously large maroon and gold banner over the kitchen table congratulating Hermione and Ron for being named Gryffindor Prefects. Why she had asked for a ladder was beyond me. She was standing on the ladder and waving her wand about, making sure that the banner was hung straight. I sat mildly amused in a kitchen chair with my arms crossed over my chest. Since being fired from the Ministry, I did a lot of sitting in the kitchen, much like Sirius. At that precise moment, Sirius was no where to be found, which meant he was probably hiding in his bedroom, sitting with Buckbeak the Hippogriff and wallowing in self pity.

The thought of Sirius' pain made me frown deeply. I took a small sip from my wine glass and closed my eyes to erase the depressing thoughts of my ex-boyfriend's melancholy. Harry had made a point a few weeks ago after his trail. Sirius was being selfish it seemed; he was so caught up on everyone leaving him in the next week that he forgot to take advantage of the time he did have with them. For someone who had been locked up for years, losing nearly thirteen years of his life to the dark cold chambers of Azkaban, you would think Sirius would be a little more grateful and enthusiastic of the time he had to spend with those that he loved like Harry and Carrigan.

"He's being worse then Gabriel ever was," said a faded female voice behind me. I turned in my chair to see Carrigan and Ginny arriving in the basement.

"I think he likes you," Ginny giggled. "Why else would he be so worried?"

Carrigan's eyes fell on me and her cheeks flushed red.

"Complaining about Benjamin?" I asked tentatively.

"Since we were attacked he's been an ass," Carrigan said with a nod as she crossed her arms over her chest. "He's been pressing me to work harder while training."

"I think he just likes her," Ginny said as she crossed the room to speak to her mother. Molly had climbed down the ladder and looked at Ginny with a thrilled smile. I looked back to Carrigan, ignoring the words Molly and Ginny were exchanging.

"I think he wants to make sure you don't pass out the next time you use your powers," I said with a smart smile. Carrigan rolled her eyes.

"I see he's gotten to you too," she said coldly. I frowned.

"Carrigan, he feels responsible for you," I shrugged. "He blames himself for not preparing you to be able to handle your powers."

"So he's pushing me harder to teach me a lesson so he feels better?"

"No, you misunderstood me. He's pushing you harder because he cares about you and doesn't want you to grow weak in a fight. What if your powers don't end the fight and there is still more to it? You can't very well pass out in the middle of a battle."

Carrigan's expression grew very cold as she stared at me with dark navy eyes. "I don't plan on being in any battles, Mother."

She pivoted and walked away towards Molly and Ginny. My heart fell at her words. Never had Carrigan addressed me as ' Mother.' I shook my head and picked up my wine glass, finishing it off as Molly asked the girls to go into the pantry and get out some potatoes for peeling. She came to me and set her wand down on the table.

"Thank you for the ladder," she said.

"Of course," I replied with a forced smile. I was still greatly bothered by Carrigan's comment, so as Molly continued to speak my mind and eyes wandered off to watch my daughter.

"I thought we'd have a bit of a party tonight instead of a sit down dinner," Molly said excited. "To celebrate Hermione and Ron's achievements and to send the children off to school."

"Good idea," I replied blankly before Molly moved away from the table.

Carrigan looked angry as she helped retrieve some dishes from the cabinets. She was whispering to Ginny quickly, who looked sympathetic. I frowned deeply. Perhaps I should speak to Benjamin.

As the two girls disappeared into the pantry my eyes returned to the overwhelming banner on the wall. I frowned deeply and pondered Dumbledore's decision. Surely, he had opted to give Ron the fifth year boy's prefect position because of the significant amount of stress that Harry was under because of Voldemort's return. Not that Ron wasn't deserving, I was just sure that almost everyone was expecting Harry to be made prefect. Harry was no doubt expecting it. My eyes drifted to the ceiling of the kitchen as if I could peer through the floor to the boy's bedroom where Harry was lying on his bed, staring at the board of the bunk above him, wondering why Dumbledore was neglecting him.

I knew, as I'm sure any adult would, that Dumbledore was not neglecting Harry purposely. He just understood what was going on in the world around us. Like myself, Harry obviously shared some kind of connection to Voldemort, though I was not sure what sort of connection that could be, Dumbledore appeared to have a few ideas. He seemed to think that being close to Harry may trigger emotions or thoughts from Voldemort that would make Voldemort aware of the connection. If Voldemort found out he was subconsciously connected to Harry Potter he would exploit such a connection to his advantage.

I sighed as I lifted the empty wine glass. Harry probably did not understand any of this and Dumbledore had asked me not to speak to Harry about such things unless he directly asked. I was starting to question Dumbledore's decisions regarding my godson. Of course, Dumbledore was human and would make mistakes, but I was not sure I could allow mistakes to occur when it came to Harry's care. I had promised Lily I would protect him and I had already failed, in my opinion, that promise in many ways. Besides, Dumbledore had a tendency to withhold personal information when he felt it was in the person's best interest. He had done that to me when I was younger.

I stood up from the table and disappeared from the kitchen before Molly could call for my help or Carrigan could glare at me more. The stairs up to the fourth floor squeaked awkwardly as I moved up them. I heard boys voices laughing and talking quickly as I passed the library and approached the forth door on the right of the hall. I knocked gently, causing all noise in the boy's room to stop.

"Oh, hi Cadence," Fred said awkwardly as he looked me over. I raised my eyebrows at him and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Where is Harry?"

"He and Ron aren't in here."

"Do you know where they are?" I asked with a touch of annoyance.

"Try their room," Fred shrugged.

I turned on my heel and moved back to the staircase to descend to the third floor. When I knocked on the bedroom door at the end of the hall, someone shallowly granted me entranced. I pushed the door opened and frowned as my eyes fell on Harry Potter lying on his back on his bunk, just as I predicted, and Ron Weasley lying on the bed (which was too small for him) over Harry's.

"Well aren't you two just the picture of happiness."

Harry didn't move on his bunk, but Ron sat up and looked at me with irritated brown eyes. He was flushed in the cheeks and ears, making me think that something must be upsetting him. I frowned, realizing that he probably did not want to be a prefect. That was probably why Fred and George seemed to be having a small party in their room. They were laughing and joking about Ron being a prefect like their older brothers.

"I didn't ask for this," Ron snipped with aggravation. I wasn't sure if his intense tone was directed at me, or indirectly towards Harry, who looked lease happy of the pair. Ron hopped off the bunk bed and headed towards me to make his leave. I took hold of his arm as he made to pass me.

"You should feel honored that Dumbledore sees enough maturity in you to handle the responsibilities of this position. If you are truly that unhappy with it perhaps you should speak to him, I'm sure he'll explain to you the many reason why he felt this would do _both of you_ some good."

Ron frowned at my advice, but nodded his head to show he understood what I told him. I released his arm and he exited the room without another word. I watched him leave and when I turned back to the bunks, Harry was sitting up looking at me with hurt eyes.

"I'm not upset that Ron was made prefect," he said instantly.

"I didn't think you were," I replied.

"I just didn't expect it."

"No one expected it."

Harry looked down at his hands in his lap. I approached the bed slowly. "May I join you?"

He nodded and moved away from the center of the mattress to let me sit next to him. I took a seat, being sure to duck my head so I wouldn't knock it against the bunk above. I looked at Harry, who despite what he said, looked uncomfortable and disappointed about not being made prefect.

"Why," Harry hesitated before he continued with his question. He looked at me with unsure eyes, and I gave him a weak smile, hoping to urge him on. "Why, do you think Dumbledore made Ron prefect?"

"I do not think Ron was made prefect because you are incapable of the responsibility necessary for the position. Dumbledore takes many factors into consideration when deciding who will be prefect."

"Right," Harry said sounding a little frustrated. "Either way, it's not about the prefect position. I just don't get why he isn't around…he won't even look at me, Cadence. He didn't look at me once during the hearing. He won't tell me what's going on and he won't speak to me. If he tells me anything he passes it along through another adult in the Order."

"Harry," I said his name delicately as I debated how much I should tell him. I did not want to frighten Harry into thinking he was connected or controlled by my father, but those were the facts. "Dumbledore thinks there may be some sort of connection between you and Voldemort."

Harry looked at me with raised eyebrows, though he did not seem completely surprised by the suggestion of a connection between him and the Dark Lord. He didn't say anything, just patiently waited for me to continue.

"Because Voldemort loathes and even fears Dumbledore," I continued looking into Harry's green eyes. "He is afraid that spending too much time with you may trigger Voldemort to discover the connection."

"I don't understand," Harry shook his head. "Dumbledore will trigger what?"

"Sometimes, during the first war, when I would be speaking to Dumbledore I would suddenly be overcome with anger and hateful feelings towards him. Those feelings didn't make sense because I do not hate Dumbledore despite how much he can make me angry. Looking at Dumbledore sometimes triggers my father's emotions because he and I share two magical connections. I think Dumbledore believes you to share some sort of connection with Voldemort as well. He knows that at times my feelings can be altered because of my father's feelings. He may think that the same thing can happen to you."

Harry was frowning at me with discomfort and skepticism. "I share a connection with Voldemort?"

"It would explain how you have dreams about him, know his feelings when your scar hurts…it does make sense," I whispered very softly. "Just like Carrigan and I share a connection with him."

"I suppose, but it all seems a little farfetched," Harry insisted. "And if it is the truth, I would hate Dumbledore to keep something like that from me." He stood up from the bed and began to pace in front of me. "I just want to be kept in the loop, if anyone should know about Voldemort and what the Order is doing, it should be me, don't you agree?"

"I think there are some things you should know, yes," I nodded. "But Harry, you're still underage. You're still a young man who is not fully prepared for what waits outside the walls of Number Twelve and Hogwarts."

"I'm more prepared than half the members of the Order."

"There is something to be said for the experiences gained simply by age. I know you are very capable of protecting yourself, and Harry your job right now is to do that. Protect yourself and your friends. Stay up to date with what is happening beyond the walls that confine you, but do not pursue any action. It is not your job to fight yet."

"I don't think Voldemort will give me much of a choice."

"Of course not," I replied. "But there is a difference between defending yourself and seeking out a fight."

Harry nodded his head as he paused to look out the window in the bedroom. He crossed his arms over his chest before speaking.

"Thank you," was all he said.

"Dinner will be ready soon," I said standing up. I felt that my job was done. I had given Harry all the advice I could. "You should prepare yourself for the giant banner to congratulate Hermione and Ron."

"Do you think Mrs. Weasley would have made a banner for Hermione and I, if I were named prefect?"

"Yes," I lied flawlessly. Harry gave me a weak smile and nodded his head before moving past me.

"Do you know where Sirius is?"

"No doubt in his room with Buckbeak."

Harry did not reply. He nodded his head and turned back to the window with a sullen frown on his face. I made my leave from the room slowly, just in case Harry called me back for something. When he didn't, I shut the door tightly behind me and made my way down the hall towards the single bedroom that Benjamin was staying in. He had not being required to share his room with anyone, which was probably for the best since he was very much a loner.

I knocked gently on his door, which opened almost instantly.

"Hello Cadence," he said with surprise. He opened the door wider and motioned for me to come in. "Is there something I can do for you?"

I stepped into the room, which was neat and clean. I smiled slightly. Benjamin was a very clean person, which didn't surprise me, but he also had so few belongings that there wasn't much to get cleaned up. Molly had purchased his Hogwarts robes for him early that day, along with his school books and a trunk. Everything seemed to be packed in his trunk, because nothing was out in view.

"Are you already packed for school?"

"We're leaving tomorrow aren't we?" he replied. I smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

"I have a feeling you didn't come up here to see that I was packed," he said as he stood next to the bed with his arms folded behind his back. I bit my bottom lip and nodded.

"You are right."

"What is on your mind?"

"Carrigan seems to think you're still being too hard on her."

"She will always think that," he replied instantly. "She liked me better before she knew I was her Guardian, perhaps if we had not been attacked in the coffee shop, I would have been able to teach her more."

"Perhaps," I agreed. "She's still not interested in fighting."

"She simply does not want to seek out a fight."

"That is not like Carrigan," I said quickly. "Since she was four she has been begging Gabriel and I to train her, now she has accepted that it is something that needs to be done, but she does not want to do it."

"I don't know what will make her want to do it," Benjamin shrugged. "What made you want to do it?"

I frowned deeply. "I never wanted to. That's why I'm worried."

"You turned out fine."

I laughed at the backhanded compliment that was embedded in Benjamin's words. "Carrigan is more powerful, more dangerous, then I ever was. You know that. She needs to be more vigilant with her powers."

"She has improved since Gabriel was in the hospital," he whispered. "Like we've said, she's come out of her spell."

"Then what does she have against you?"

Benjamin didn't respond right away. He frowned and turned away from me, looking out the window of the bedroom, much like Harry did just a few moments before when I spoke to him.

"I think," Benjamin spoke slowly. "That she is reluctant to fully engage her skills in our training sessions because she fears us ending up like you and Gabriel."

"Really?" I questioned surprised.

"Before your doctor's appointment," Benjamin said as he turned back to me. "She was engaging more in training, but when she found out that you may be pregnant she began to pull back again. This entire summer has been a roller coaster for her training. She starts out strong, eager and high, then plummets to the point of regression, then picks up again…and now she's falling back. She's still having dreams of your death and she is not articulating her fears to me. She doesn't talk to me like she used to."

"Perhaps it is because she is young. She is immature and irresponsible."

I couldn't believe what I had just said. Of all the words that I would have used to describe Carrigan, never would I use 'immature' or 'irresponsible.' But Benjamin was right, something had changed over the summer. Carrigan had changed.

"Perhaps," Benjamin replied with a shrug. I could tell that he didn't buy it. He thought that something else was holding Carrigan back. "Perhaps she is right that going back to school will help her focus more."

I nodded with a weak smile. "Are you coming down for dinner?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I'll be done in a few minutes."

I left him alone in his room and quietly made my way back downstairs, where I was sure that dinner had started already. Not to my surprise, when I arrived in the basement kitchen, I saw the Weasley family, Carrigan, Hermione, Harry, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, and Gabriel gathered around the table, drinking, eating and conversing happily with each other.

"Yep, it's a boggart, Molly. Do you want me to get rid of it now?"

"Oh no, Alastor, thank you. I'll take care of it later," Molly replied as I walked by. I was heading straight for Gabriel, who was on the opposite side of the room speaking to Kingsley. Both men stopped exchanging words as I approached.

"Hello," I said brightly as I looked up at Gabriel. His satin blue eyes gazed at me with deep pleasure. He wrapped an arm around me and leaned forward, kissing my forehead.

"Hello, love," he said softly. His voice was deep, calm and smooth, causing my stomach to fill with butterflies and my skin to perk with desire.

"Really?" I questioned surprised.

"Before your doctor's appointment," Benjamin said as he turned back to me. "She was engaging more in training, but when she found out that you may be pregnant she began to pull back again. This entire summer has been a roller coaster for her training. She starts out strong, eager and high, then plummets to the point of regression, then picks up again…and now she's falling back. She's still having dreams of your death and she is not articulating her fears to me. She doesn't talk to me like she used to."

"Perhaps it is because she is young. She is immature and irresponsible."

I couldn't believe what I had just said. Of all the words that I would have used to describe Carrigan, never would I use 'immature' or 'irresponsible.' But Benjamin was right, something had changed over the summer. Carrigan had changed.

"Perhaps," Benjamin replied with a shrug. I could tell that he didn't buy it. He thought that something else was holding Carrigan back. "Perhaps she is right that going back to school will help her focus more."

I nodded with a weak smile. "Are you coming down for dinner?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I'll be done in a few minutes."

I left him alone in his room and quietly made my way back downstairs, where I was sure that dinner had started already. Not to my surprise, when I arrived in the basement kitchen, I saw the Weasley family, Carrigan, Hermione, Harry, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, and Gabriel gathered around the table, drinking, eating and conversing happily with each other.

"Yep, it's a boggart, Molly. Do you want me to get rid of it now?"

"Oh no, Alastor, thank you. I'll take care of it later," Molly replied as I walked by. I was heading straight for Gabriel, who was on the opposite side of the room speaking to Kingsley. Both men stopped exchanging words as I approached.

"Hello," I said brightly as I looked up at Gabriel. His satin blue eyes gazed at me with deep pleasure. He wrapped an arm around me and leaned forward, kissing my forehead.

"Hello, love," he said softly. His voice was deep, calm and smooth, causing my stomach to fill with butterflies and my skin to perk with desire.

"Hello, Cadence," Kingsley said with a bright white smile. "I'm sorry that you were sacked."

"It happens to the best of us," I replied with a shrug. "But it really is for the best, I will be more of an asset to the Order then I ever was to the Ministry."

"They don't know what they've lost," Kingsley said patting my shoulder.

"Thank you," I bowed my head to his flattering words.

"If you'll excuse me," he said to Gabriel and I before moving away. I turned to look up at Gabriel, who was holding a bottle of ale in his hand. He took a long swig before looking directly at me.

"What's the matter?"

"Have you made any headway on figuring out what Cepheus is?"

"Cadence, I just left work, I don't want to keep talking or thinking about it."

"Gabriel, this isn't just work, this is our lives we're talking about."

"No," he sighed, obviously perturbed. "We have not figured out what Scott was involved in."

I frowned. "Alright," I whispered.

"How is Harry holding up?" Gabriel asked motioning to the banner over our heads.

"He's fine," I replied. "He's more upset that Dumbledore is neglecting him. I told him about our theory—"

"Cadence," Gabriel said sharply with disapproval in his tone. I looked up at him crossly. The look he was giving me made me flash back to when we were younger and he scolded me for telling Sirius anything about our missions.

"He had a right to know," I replied in my own cross tone. "And Dumbledore said that if he asked I was free to tell him."

"When are you going to learn that it is not always in someone's best interest to know their weaknesses—"

"Is that what you believe?" I snapped. "Harry had every right to know that there is a possible connection between him and V—"

Gabriel took my arm and lead me across the kitchen to the stairs. He discretely looked over his shoulder to make sure he didn't draw attention to us leaving the kitchen. Once we were up the stairs, in the foyer, Gabriel spoke.

"Yes, Harry has a right to know, but there is a time and place for everything, Cadence," Gabriel was nearly yelling at me, which surprised me. He hadn't been this angry with me in ages. "Now he is going to return to school defeated because Dumbledore has been neglecting him, he wasn't made prefect, AND he has a connection to Voldemort. Do you know how on edge he is going to be?"

"It is not for you and Dumbledore to decide what is best for Harry when it comes to my father," I hissed. "Neither of you are his guardians! Sirius and I are! He has every right to know and the sooner he knows the better. You two won't hide things about his abilities from him like you did me!"

"This is not about you or your powers," Gabriel retorted. "You have to learn not to open your mouth whenever you feel like it."

I turned away from Gabriel and snatched my cloak off of the coat wrack.

"Where are you going?" he questioned as I yanked the cloak around me and buttoned it on. I glared straight at him as the floor boards began to shake under our feet. Gabriel gave me a harsh, scolding look again which made the rage inside of me rise even more.

"I'm taking a walk because I think it would be inappropriate to sock my husband!" I shouted. My energy got the best of me, when I yelled a vase in the sitting room shattered and the picture of Sirius' mother started to scream. Gabriel rolled his eyes and pulled his wand as I opened the front door, indifferent to the mess that I was leaving behind.

"You can try and sock me if you'd like!" he yelled to challenge me. "Take a damned knife with you!"

"I'm not an idiot!" I shouted back as I was half out the door. I slammed the door viciously behind me, shutting out the screams of all the portraits in Number Twelve. I stomped down the porch steps with my hands forcefully shoved into my pockets. As soon as I hit the sidewalk I Apparated with a loud _crack!_

I had no idea where I was going, I just wanted to get away from Grimmauld Place and Gabriel. My body was on fire and to my surprise I Apparated to an over-grown garden in the quiet country-side. I frowned deeply as I looked up at the house in front of the garden. Of all the places to Apparate, why would I come here.

I was staring up at the old mansion that had recently belonged (and probably still did) to Bartemius Crouch. The house looked aged and abandoned, which wasn't surprising considering Crouch's death only a few months back. I frowned as I stepped forward, twigs from the unkept garden catching under my feet and cracked loudly. I looked around to see if there were any near by neighboring houses that may allow for witnesses to see me on the abandoned property. There didn't appear to be any. I was completely surrounded by darkness. I moved forward, straight into the back of the house where Penelope Talon had led me to meet my father in May.

The house was dark and dusty inside. I coughed lightly as I kicked up dust while moving through the halls. It occurred to me, that if my father had been staying here at all over the last year, then it was possible this is where Penelope had been going all the times she disappeared while staying with me in the summer home. My stomach lurched at the thought of discovering Penelope's hide-out. Perhaps there was something that would help me figure out what Cepheus was.

As I treaded through the house looking into the various rooms my mind wandered to thoughts of Penelope. How she had betrayed me, how I was stupid enough to trust her because she saved my life once…because I felt like we had a connection; how she was responsible for torturing, experimenting and altering my niece's memory. I wondered if Penelope had been with my father from the start and if she was responsible for Haiden's kidnapping as much as the Jaspers were. But if she was, wouldn't have Gabriel known it since he was a forced to work for my father again?

I paused in a bedroom that looked as though a woman had slept in it. There was a bottle of perfume on the bedside table, a chest of woman's clothing, and a tube of ruby red lipstick on the dresser. I smiled slightly, the lipstick must have belonged to Penelope. This is where she stayed while she served my father.

I tore the room apart, looking through every drawer, the closet and even under the mattress. I took my knife and cut open the mattress, because if I was trying to hide something I might consider hiding it in the mattress. There was nothing. I walked across the floor boards, waiting for one of them to creak or wobble differently then the others. There had to be something in her room. Well, I hoped there would be. Honestly, I don't know what she would have kept that would lead me to Cepheus or what she was up to with my father.

I threw the contents of the nightstand drawer on the floor, mostly in frustration, and heaved a heavy sigh. I sat down on the destroyed bed and looked out at the room that I had just turned over looking for something that I wasn't sure even existed. As I peered off onto the bedroom floor, a glint of silver caught my eye in the opened drawer. I leaned forward, reaching into the drawer, and pulled out a shining heart shaped locket. I raised my eyebrows with curiosity as I opened it.

Two headshots stared up at me from inside the locket. I was surprised to see that the photos were the Muggle type; they didn't move. The dark face of a familiar looking man stared up at me with ice blue eyes on the left side of the locket, on the other side was the picture of an infant child. The baby boy was happy in the photon and ice blue eyes to match the picture opposite.

As I stared at the pictures, my heart plummeted into my stomach. Without a second thought I Apparated from the destroyed bedroom, the locket clenched firmly in my hands.


	19. Trusting the Discovered Truth

Number Twelve was silent and dark when I returned to it at four in the morning. I carefully mounted the stairs and held my breathe so not to wake any of the pictures. When I arrived in the bedroom that Gabriel and I shared, I was surprised to see a candle lit and him moving around the room getting dressed. He stopped when I opened the door and walked in. I froze at the sight of him. He was standing by the trunk at the foot of the bed half naked, with only jeans on. In his hand was a long sleeve black shirt, which he was no doubt about to put on. Instead, he threw it on the bed and marched straight to me.

"What did you tell me next to my mother's grave?" he asked. The tone of his voice was rough, filled with worry but also fury.

"That I love you," I said instantly as I looked up at him.

His eyes had changed color since our fight. They were now a gleaming shade of grey that made my heart skip a beat. It didn't matter what color his eyes were, they always made my knees shake and my heart flutter. Gabriel was what made me shake and flutter. He always had been.

"Where have you been!?" he practically yelled as he grabbed onto my arms and pulled me against him. He shut the door behind me and embraced me again, holding me tightly to his chest, as if he were afraid he had lost me when I walked out after our argument. He kissed my forehead, then lifted my chin and planted gentle, tender kissed on my lips. I stood on my toes and returned his affection with more passionate, tongue-playing, kisses. He smiled against my lips and pulled away abruptly, looking at me with scolding concerned eyes.

"Well?" he questioned. "Where were you?"

"I'm so happy I didn't have a father like you when I was younger," I said pulling away from him and kicking off my shoes. "I would have never had any fun."

"Cadence," he said my name delicately as he rubbed his face. "I was about to come out and look for you. It's four in the morning! Carrigan is leaving for Hogwarts today! What the hell were you doing?"

"I'm cheating on you," I said matter-of-factly as I undid my pants and let them drop to my ankles. I stepped out of them and kicked them away before pulling off my long sleeve shirt. Gabriel came up behind me and pulled my body against his, pressing me forward and almost bending me over the bed. He pulled my hair over my shoulder and playfully, seductively bit down onto my neck. He proceeded to kiss me as he lured me into the bed, laying me down on my stomach and seducing me from behind.

"I'll never believe you when you say that to me," he whispered in my ear as his fingers pulled at my black cotton underwear. I couldn't help but smile as he started to pull my underwear down, letting me feel a thick bulge in his pants press up against my butt. I rolled over underneath him; despite wanting him all over me so bad, we had things to talk about.

"Alright," I said seriously. "I broke into the community records building in the village we lived in."

"You really know how to kill a mood," he said sorely.

"You wanted to know! You could have left it alone and finished seducing me," I shrugged easily and smiled because I turned his argument around on him.

"Fine," he sighed as he moved to lay down next to me. I quickly grabbed the covers and pulled them over my naked body because it was chilly in the drafty room. "Why did you break in to Muggle records building?"

"I was doing research."

"Really? You're going to keep being allusive like that," he said sarcastically.

"Maybe you're just not asking the right questions," I responded with a clam tone. Gabriel wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his body, engulfing me against his big frame and broad tattooed arms. He laid his head on the pillow next to me and remained silent. When I glanced at him, I noticed his eyes were closed. "Alright, I was looking into Benjamin's family."

"Why?" he seemed surprised.

"Because, I found something while I was going through Penelope's stay room at the Crouch's house," I said. "She must have stayed there while my father and Pettigrew stayed at the Riddle house."

"What did you find?"

I moved on the bed and reached for my pants which were lying on the floor near the trunk. I picked up them up, as my body laid across Gabriel's, and dug into the front pocket. I fished out the locket that I had found in Penelope's nightstand drawer and held it out to Gabriel. He sat up and took it from me, looking at it curiously with raised eyebrows.

"A locket?"

"Open it," I advised. Gabriel did so and looked at the two pictures, still with raised eyebrows. "This looks an awful like Benjamin, don't you think? I think the baby is Benjamin and this man is his father."

"Why would Penelope have this?"

"There are two possibilities," I replied as Gabriel looked into my eyes. "Either Penelope Talon was Benjamin's mother, or she stole this from his mother."

Gabriel stared at me as the silence fell around us. He looked back at the pictures in the locket and studied them more closely. "They do look like Benjamin. So, what did you find at the community records building?"

"That a man, by the name of Thomas Snow married a local woman, Genevieve Callahan. They were both Muggles," I said quickly with some excitement because I felt like I was onto something, even though it wasn't what I was first investigating. "There was a news article clipped to their marriage records, in the article it said that it was Snow's _second_ marriage. It also mentions that Snow moved to the village after the mysterious disappearance of his first wife and their son. I found housing records that say Snow and his second wife moved out of the village ten years ago, just as Benjamin told us."

"Where do you go now?" he asked. "It's a dead end, if anything it provides more questions then answers."

"No, because now I know who Benjamin's father is," I said quickly.

"What makes you think he doesn't know who his father is?"

"He said he didn't know. I don't think he ever got the chance to look into it. He moved out here to figure out this lead, but he met Carrigan instead and thought he could help her control her powers. I think when he started talking and caring about Carrigan he forgot about finding out who his parents were. Tomorrow, after we take Carrigan and Benjamin to the station, I want to go to the London library, see if I can find some public records on Thomas Snow. He was a Muggle, they should have files on him."

"What if Penelope is his mother? What then?"

"What do you mean? Does it matter?" I questioned.

"How are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Let's find out if I'm right or not."

Gabriel nodded his head slowly and handed the locket back to me. I closed it and put it around my neck, so not to loose it. Gabriel eyes remained on the locket as it hung around my neck, down between my breast. He gave me a weak smile, but I could see that he was worried.

"What's the matter?"

"You said that Guardian blood was genetic?"

"According to the book Dumbledore gave me it's just a theory, yes," I nodded.

"If Penelope was Benjamin's mother," he spoke slowly. "That would imply that she was a Guardian as well, since Thomas Snow is a Muggle."

I nodded my head. "So?"

"That proposes a whole new amount of mysteries, Cadence," Gabriel said. "Brings to question a lot of things concerning Divinity since Penelope is the one who seems to have lead the projects on her."

I frowned seeing his point. "If Penelope is a Guardian, is it possible that she is really Divinity's Guardian and not you? But then, who is your next student? Guardians usually have three or four students over their lifetime."

"Or have they been removed from the path," he suggested as he gently touched my stomach. His eyes locked with mine before he spoke next, "Like other people in our life."

I frowned deeply and leaned forward to kiss him, hoping that my lips would comfort his woes. I wasn't quite sure why he was so worried about his guardianship, but if he was truly concerned then I felt I should be too.

"Let's get some sleep," I whispered. "We'll have to be up in four hours."

Sleep came quickly for me once we laid down in each other's arms under the comforters. But when I woke at ten twenty one and noticed that Gabriel was not in the bed, I assumed that he had not slept well. Something about what I had discovered and purposed about Benjamin and Penelope had severely shaken him.

Downstairs a few hours later, Number Twelve was in complete bedlam because everyone was running late. When I arrived in the foyer, dressed in tight black pants, a plum blouse with black corset vest over top, and unzipped combat boots, Carrigan caught my eye in the sitting room. I moved past the Weasley twins and Molly who were arguing and took a seat next to Carrigan on the couch. She looked at me with a smile.

"Wondered when you would get up."

"Didn't plan on waking me?"

"I was about to," she said easily.

"Where is Gabriel?"

"Said he would meet us at the station," Carrigan said curiously. "He seemed…bothered…by something."

"Well we did have a fight last night," I responded deciding it was best to keep what I had learned about Benjamin between Gabriel and I for now. Carrigan looked at me closely with squinting, studying midnight blue eyes. She brushed her brown hair out of her face and shook her head.

"You're lying," she replied.

"It's no lie that Gabriel and I fought last night."

"Fine," Carrigan said looking at me sharply. "But that's not why he's bothered. Something else is bothering him."

"When did you become so perceptive?"

Carrigan gave me a charming smile and tapped her temples with in her index finger. "For about a year now. Although, I can't hear your thoughts right now…I can hear Benjamin's, but I bet he's letting me in. I can also hear Remus', Tonks', Hermione's and Ginny's at this very moment."

"All at once?"

"I listen to each one individually," she shrugged. "The point is they never put up walls."

"What about your father?"

Carrigan frowned slightly. "It doesn't take telekinesis to read him like an open book."

"He still hasn't come down?"

"He has," Carrigan nodded. "He's going with us."

"Excuse me?" I questioned sharply with wide eyes. "Has he completely lost his mind—?"

"No, it's still well intact, thank you very much," Sirius said appearing in the sitting room. "I will be going in my dog form, in case you're concerned."

"Pettigrew knows that you're an unregistered Animagus, which means Voldemort knows and no doubt his circle of Death Eaters! You can't go out—"

"It's been decided," he said sharply as he pulled his maroon robe shut over his grey suit. He crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at me, with such a similar look as Carrigan it was frightening. "I thought you'd be happy that I was taking responsibility for my daughter and godson to see them off."

"I don't want you to be reckless though," I snapped. "A lot of people are putting their necks out for you to make sure you don't get caught. It'd be a poor way to thank them for it by being reckless and getting caught yourself."

"Stop!" Carrigan said sharply before Sirius could yell back at me. She had jumped up from her seat on the couch. Sirius and I both looked at her and then the floor like shameful children who were being scolded by an exacerbated mother. "I've had enough of you two. Mom, he's an adult he can do what he wants! Dad, she is just keeping your best interest in mind because she knows what its like to grow up without a father and she doesn't want me to do the same!"

She stormed away from us towards the front door where she snatched up her backpack and violently threw it over her shoulder. Benjamin appeared from the basement kitchen at that precise moment.

"Are you ready to leave?" she hollered at him. Benjamin raised his eyebrows at her in surprise and carefully took a bite of his toast before answer her.

"Yes," he replied.

"Can we go? My parents are fighting again and I'm afraid if I stay here I might blow something up."

"Absolutely," Benjamin said coming forward to pick up his bag. Neither of them took their trunks because Moody was taking care of the large luggage. He looked at me with questioning eyes as Carrigan opened the door.

"Wait right there, young lady," Sirius said with a calm voice but stern tone. "You can't leave here with out your guard—"

"Watch me," Carrigan fired back before storming out of the door.

"I'll keep an eye on her," he said quickly before exiting the house with his bag over his shoulder. I sighed and put my head in my hands.

"Thanks for that," Sirius mumbled as I moved past him. I stopped abruptly, turning to him with ice in my eyes.

"Don't you dare blame this on me, Sirius Black!" I yelled. "She's absolutely right, you are an adult and you can make your own decisions, but it's time you started to think about how your decisions effect other people, especially the ones you're responsible for and those who care about you!"

I snatched my cloak off the coat wrack and threw it around me, as I buttoned it I turned in the foyer, looking for Molly who was in the crowd of red-headed children who were preparing to leave.

"Molly, I'm heading out," I said. "I'll see the rest of you there."

"Very well," she said with a wave.

I tore open the door and moved quickly down the street to catch up with Benjamin and Carrigan. To my relief they were stuck at the corner of Grimmauld Place, waiting for the street light to change. When I caught up to them, Carrigan looked up at me with such a nasty glare I thought my face might melt off my skull.

"What did Gabriel get me for Christmas two years ago?" she questioned with a ruthless tone.

"The gaudy little dagger you have in your boot right now," I said motioning to the jewel encrusted hilt I could see stick out of her black leather boot.

She bowed her head and turned her back to me, looking out at traffic. Her hand dug into her bag and pulled out a pair of aviator glasses, which she promptly put on to block the daylight sun from her nighttime eyes. I frowned slightly as I looked her over from behind. She had put her black leather bomber jacket on once she left the house and was standing before me like a grungy rebel from the eighties. She had tight black jeans on, chunky combat boots, and a loose red button-up that fell over her butt and could be seen under the bomber jacket. Her hair was wild and loose, blowing in the calm fall breeze; when the light changed and she stepped out into the street to cross traffic, her hair billowed behind her like a curtain of rich chestnut curls.

I followed behind her and Benjamin carefully. I didn't want to put any pressure on Carrigan and push her aggravation over the edge. Benjamin looked over his shoulder at me as we walked, but said nothing. He looked unsure of what was going on and also perturbed that I had joined him and Carrigan.

_She won't talk now, _he said into my mind. I rolled my eyes and tucked my hands into my pockets.

"I wasn't going to talk anyways," Carrigan retorted sharply. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair with irritation. I hoped that whatever had crawled into Carrigan and died, making her the most irritable and miserable teenage girl ever, would soon leave her and make her tolerable again. I was tired of her disgruntled attitudes and prickly demeanor. Hopefully, being back at Hogwarts would relax her and allow her to focus on her studies and training. I frowned slightly as I walked behind my thirteen year old. It seemed like a foolish time for hope in that day in age where you didn't know who to trust or what waited around every corner.

Trust.

My mind raced with my past lessons in trust. I flashed from my parents, to Gabriel, to Penelope. Truly, the only person I could trust in this world was Carrigan because she was my own flesh and blood; but even blood can be betraying. I was a living example of that. Could I trust Benjamin to take care of Carrigan? To train her as a Guardian should? What if Benjamin is Penelope's son and I am making the same mistake by trusting him as I trusted her?

The twenty minute walk to King's Cross station was uneventful and quiet. Benjamin, Carrigan and I stood on Platform 9 ¾ waiting for the others to arrive. The dark scarlet steam engine was already in the station loading students who were set to return to Hogwarts. Carrigan was standing next to me, leaning against a brown brick pillar and staring at the portal that lead back to platform 9. I could see in her eyes that she was still frustrated with Sirius and I, but she was also worried. She was worried that Gabriel would miss her leaving. Benjamin was sitting on a bench with his eyes closed, as if he was trying to meditate and prepare himself for the experience he was about to endure.

As if on cue, Gabriel walked through the portal between platforms 9 and 10. Carrigan stood up straight and smiled joyfully at the sight of him. Benjamin opened his eyes and looked in Carrigan's direction, as if he sensed the sudden change in her mood. I relaxed at the sight of Gabriel because behind him followed the Weasley's and the rest of the guard that was protecting Harry as he traveled to King's Cross. Gabriel must have met them on the way to the station. Sirius came bounding up the platform towards us in his dog form, making my stomach flip with uneasiness. If anyone sighted him…anything could happen…

"Good morning," Gabriel said causing me to blink and take my eyes off of Sirius who was sitting in front of Carrigan. She had knelt down next to him and was patting his head and rubbing his ears.

"I forgive you," I heard her say.

"Hi," I said as I turned to look up at Gabriel. "What is your daughter's name?"

"Jennifer," he replied easily. "And our son's?"

"Caspian," I said sullenly. Gabriel wrapped an arm around me and looked at Carrigan, who was standing and moving away from Sirius. Harry was standing next to Sirius with a sad expression on his face.

The whistle of the train blew, announcing that the train would be pulling out of the station in a few minutes. "Everyone get on, quick!" Molly bellowed at her children as they jumped onto the train after speedy good-byes.

"I thought you were going to miss us leaving," Carrigan said to Gabriel as Benjamin came to stand next to her.

"I would never," he beamed as he pulled her close and kissed her head. "Have a good term. Study hard and listen to Benjamin. He knows what you need more then anyone."

"I seriously doubt that," she replied glancing at Benjamin, who looked indifferent to the comment. "But I'll do my best."

She pulled out of Gabriel's arms then stepped over to me. Gabriel shook Benjamin's hand and clapped him on the shoulder. I noticed that he pulled the young man aside, I'm sure to quietly threaten him about Carrigan's safety. Carrigan looked up at me with displeased eyes. I raised my eyebrows at her with curiosity.

"I'm sorry about earlier—"

"It isn't that," she replied instantly. She looked over her shoulder at Benjamin who was still talking to Gabriel. "You didn't have your defenses up as we walked here, Mom."

"Oh," I said breathlessly because I knew what she was referring to.

"I trust him," she said. "Even if you don't."

I nodded. "You still have to be careful," I replied. I pulled her into my arms as the whistle blew again and kissed her forehead hastily. "We're strong girls, Carrigan."

"The strongest," she said firmly as she pulled way and ran for the train that was starting to move away from the platform. Benjamin was on her heels. Harry waited in the open door for them; he held out his hand for Carrigan, who grabbed it and he pulled her up. Benjamin jumped on behind her and disappeared into the train car while Carrigan and Harry remained in the door. I walked with the train as it made to exit the station, waving quickly to both of the children I was responsible for.

"I love you both!" I called as the train picked up speed. Harry met my eyes with his emerald green one's and mouthed that he loved me too. I stopped running as the train took off and Sirius followed it, chasing after Harry and Carrigan until the train turned a bend out of the station.

I stood on the platform, suddenly feeling very alone despite being surrounded by close friends, fellow members of the Order of the Phoenix, Gabriel and Sirius. I was alone because Carrigan, the light of my life, was gone…on her own adventure and trusting her own instincts. I frowned as Gabriel put his hands on my shoulders and squeezed them slightly. This had been a hard summer for everyone, but especially Carrigan and Harry. It was over…but I felt the hardships were just about to begin. I had sent them off with an incomplete good-bye. I didn't even get to hug Harry before he boarded the train. My stomach was in knots as we all stood, watching, until the train completely disappeared around the corner.

I glanced at the people around me, wondering how many of them I could truly trust. How many of them would have my back in this upcoming war.


	20. Letters

_Hello Mother,_

_ I hope my letter finds you well even though it's only been a week since I left for school. Everything is fine here on this end, but I wanted to write to you to inform you that I have been put into detention by the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for lying to her. She wasn't going to make me write to you, but I thought it best to tell you of my disobedience. Benjamin sends his regards and wonders if you could bring his locket? I don't know if you or Gabriel will be coming out here like you have in the past for work, but Ben forget it and is very worried about what is inside. Tell the men in my life I love them. I miss you all._

_ All my love, _

_ Carri_

I looked up from the kitchen table, where I was sitting with Sirius, after finishing reading Carrigan's letter out loud.

"That little stink," I whispered. "She went and told Benjamin about the locket."

Sirius raised his eyebrows at me in misunderstanding, I had forgotten he didn't know about the locket or Benjamin's possible connection to Penelope Talon. He leaned forward, reaching for the letter. I handed it to him calmly and let him read it over.

"What is the locket?" he asked. "Is it code?"

I frowned slightly. "It's a trinket I found in Penelope Talon's stay room at the Crouch's." I lifted the chain from around my neck and opened the locket. As I held it in my fingers I looked closely at the two pictures inside of it. "The pictures in here look a great deal like Benjamin…either Penelope was his mother, or she stole this from his mother."

"Or it's just a coincidence," Sirius said with a matter of fact tone. I looked at him with exacerbation as I dropped the locket, allowing it to gently thump against my breast bone.

"Really?" I questioned. "You believe in coincidences after everything that has happened to us?"

Sirius laughed. "Of course not."

"Right," I nodded.

"I think there is more to Carrigan's letter then you realize," he continued once his laughing had subsided. "I don't think Carrigan would write to us about her detention unless her professor made her and we both know Dolorous Umbridge is anything but a peach. She's at Hogwarts to put forth the Ministry's agenda, which means that Carrigan was probably 'lying' about something that is very true. I also think that Benjamin didn't forget his locket. I think Carrigan wants you to come out to Hogwarts to talk about the locket…she's 'worried about what is inside.' She knows that you've been fired and Gabriel will have no reason to come out to Hogwarts for the Ministry. She was trying to be subtle."

I nodded my head in understanding, realizing that Sirius was probably right. I gave him a weak smile as he handed the letter back to me. He looked handsome and relaxed today. It appeared that he had accepted the fact that while the house was still headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, not as many people would be there all the time. Molly and Arthur had returned to the Burrow since the children went to school. Gabriel and I had found a place in the city and were nearly ready to move into it. Remus made a point to be around quiet a bit because he knew Sirius well enough to know that he would go crazy without company. But other then his improved pleasant demeanor, Sirius also looked better today. His skin had more of a pink tone to it, his eyes were gleaming with pleasure, his hair was trimmed, brushed and his beard was well kept. He was wearing brown pants and a white button-up shirt that was unbuttoned to reveal the tribal tattoo over his breast bone and his muscular chest.

He raised his eyebrows at me while smirking when he realized I was staring at him.

"See something you like, Cadence?" he joked.

I turned away, my cheeks flushing slightly. Despite everything else, I still found Sirius to be a very attractive man. It was the dark hair and eyes, the tattoos and the muscles. "I just noticed that you looked happier today."

"I'm really excited that you and Gabriel are moving out," he responded before taking a drink from his coffee mug. I gave him an ugly look before folding up Carrigan's letter and sticking it in my cloak pocket.

"You sure you'll be alright by yourself?" I questioned making the conversation serious.

"Of course," he responded instantly. "What do you think I am? A child?"

"Sometimes," I admitted with a smile. Sirius rolled his eyes and finished his coffee.

"You can come by whenever you'd like. I'm sure you'll have tons of free time."

"Yea, I suppose you're right," I responded before we fell silent. "I could always use my responsibilities to the Order as a reason to go to Hogwarts and see Dumbledore, but really see Carrigan."

"But what will be your cover story?" Sirius asked with raised eyebrows.

"Good point," I responded.

"Everything is packed," said Gabriel's voice causing Sirius and I to turn and look at him as he entered the kitchen from the staircase that descended to it. "We're ready to go, Cadence."

I couldn't help but smile at Gabriel as he came towards me. He stopped next to my chair and bent low to kiss my forehead. Sirius quickly got up from his chair and moved farther into the kitchen to clean out his coffee mug. I glanced at him before looking back at Gabriel, still smiling.

"What were you two discussing?"

"Carrigan sent a letter," I replied. I pulled the letter out of my cloak pocket and extended it to him. He stood up straight while opening the letter. I turned back to see Sirius going through the pantry as Gabriel read the letter.

"She obviously wants you to come out there," he said as he handed it back to me.

I gave him a scolding look, annoyed that he felt the need to tell me what was so obvious. He smirked and pinched my cheek affectionately.

"So, you're off then?" Sirius asked as he approached the table with a plate of bread in his hand. He set it on the table and held the back of the chair that stood in front of him.

"If Cadence is ready," Gabriel said looking at me. I forced a smile and nodded.

"Yes, I am," I said standing up. I moved around the table to Sirius. I hugged him quickly, before his anger could prevent me from touching him. "Good bye, Sirius. I'll be by soon."

"Sure," he nodded as he squeezed me strongly in his arms. "See you."

"I'll be back before you know it," I whispered in his ear before kissing his cheek and pulling away. Sirius nodded his head, but did not say another word to me.

"Gabriel," he said extending his hand to Gabriel. "Always a pleasure."

Gabriel laughed lightly and shook Sirius' hand forcefully. "Yes, Sirius, it always is."

Sirius gave him a weak, and somewhat sarcastic, smile and nodded his head. "You two be safe."

"Always am," I replied before Gabriel and I made our way from the kitchen to the upper floor of the house. "All the boxes are sent already?"

"Yes," Gabriel answered as he pulled on his cloak. "I will have to go to Maine to get the rest tonight after work."

"I can do it," I said as I looked up at him. Gabriel stopped buttoning his jacket and looked at me with dark eyes that were about to say 'no.' "I'm not a child anymore—"

"You always find it necessary to say that," he interrupted as he opened the door and motioned for me to leave first.

"You always find it necessary to look at me as if I am still a child," I retorted with an edgy tone. I descended the porch steps onto the sidewalk of Grimmauld Place. The square was abandoned, as usually, but the sun was shining down on the warm fall morning making the square appear more cheerful then in the past. Gabriel took my hand, despite the harsh words we were starting to exchange, when he reached the sidewalk.

"My concern was not motivated by the belief that you are still childlike and therefore cannot handle going to Maine by yourself," Gabriel said strongly. "I'm concerned about you going by yourself because I love you and I would never forgive myself if something happened to you when I could have prevented it."

I stopped on the sidewalk and looked up at Gabriel with sad eyes. I was touched by his words, but also infuriated by them. "When Persephone had a prophecy that you would die this past summer you told me everyone dies and I would carry on. You have to believe the same thing if something were to happen to me. And, it's a sexist double standard—"

"I didn't say I didn't want you to go, or that I was forbidding you to go," he said with a wise-ass smirk. I smiled at his gleaming eyes and nodded. "I just looked at you with concern."

"Alright," I said turning and walking again. His hand still remained in mine, keeping it warm and reminded me that he would always be there…even when he wasn't… "Then I will go today and get the other boxes."

"Alright," Gabriel nodded, but there was still concern written all over his face. I squeezed his hand tightly and he squeezed mine in return.

Without warning, Gabriel stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and pulled me around against his chest. He bent his head low and kissed me deeply on the lips with such passion, I thought I might burst. His hands ran over my waist and hips before he wrapped his arms around me entirely, engulfing me fully in him. I could only return his kisses and moan gently against his passionate mouth. I was helpless to him; completely succumbed to his seductiveness. To my surprise, he squeezed me against him more firmly and I felt the familiar pull of Apparation taking our bodies. Within moments we were being pulled in multiple directions and squeezed through what felt like a tiny tube, then our feet hit solid ground and my knees gave. Gabriel was holding onto me so tightly I didn't fall. He continued to kiss me as if nothing had happened, as if we hadn't just Apparated in the middle of a Muggle sidewalk, as if there wasn't the risk of exposure.

"Gabriel," I sighed as I pulled away. My voice was dripping with sexual desire to match the burning emotions that were running through my entire system. Gabriel stood up straight, beaming with joy, and looking very happy with himself. He stroked my cheek as my eyes wandered away from his brilliant smile and glowing green eyes, to take in our surroundings.

We were standing in the narrow foyer of our new home. It was dark, despite the sunlight that was beaming outside, because the shades were pulled shut on the front window and door. The walls were painted dark forest green and the floor was paneled dark hickory wood.

I turned to look behind me. The narrow foyer split in half, to my left was a long narrow staircase that disappeared to the top floor of the house, straight ahead on the right was a long hall that lead to the back of the house. I stepped forward and peered up the staircase for a moment. Sunlight could be seen shining onto the top of the staircase. There was a window high above the front door that allowed sunlight to shine onto the top of the staircase and hallway that laid out the upper floor of the house.

"Do you want to see the back of the house?" Gabriel asked quietly in my ear as he wrapped his arms around me. I smiled and turned to him.

"I'm only interested in one room right now," I smirked. Gabriel laughed and scooped me up in his muscular arms easily before ascending the stairs to the top floor. I looked around as he walked down the empty, sherbet orange painted hallway, that was paneled with the same hickory floor as the foyer and wondered who had lived there before and decided on the paint colors.

To the left of the staircase was a large open white walled room with wooden floors. The room appeared to glow because of large bay windows that let in the spectacular sunshine. Instead of furniture and décor the room was full of boxes. I turned my head to look ahead down the hall as Gabriel walked away from the white room. Obviously, he hadn't unpacked at all, he just moved everything and put it in that single room. It didn't bother me though.

Ahead of us were four hickory doors that matched the wood panel floor and moldings on the walls. Gabriel walked down the hall to the farthest door, which was open slightly. He kicked it open lightly with his foot then strode across the master bedroom towards the king size mattress that was shoved in the far corner of the room. The walls were painted blood red, with white moldings edging the walls. The white lace curtains were pulled tightly shut over the twenty foot window that looked out onto the London street below the brownstone.

Gabriel playfully tossed me on the mattress before tearing off his black long sleeve shirt. I squirmed with desire as I laid back on the mattress. Gabriel stood over me for only a moment, allowing me to take in his muscular, define upper body. My heart skipped a beat as he knelt down on the mattress and crawled on top of me. How was I so lucky to have a man so magnificent and sexy loving me? As Gabriel kissed me deeply and I wrapped my arms around his wide shoulders, I realized that every risk and consequence that came from our relationship was worth it. Loving Gabriel was worth everything.

Just as Gabriel was starting to unbutton my pants an obnoxious pecking sound echoed in the room from the front window. Gabriel ignored it and began to push my pants off but the pecking continued.

"Gabriel," I sighed touching his chest gently. He pulled back and sighed with annoyance. He kissed me quickly before standing up and moving to the window on the opposite side of the room. I smiled and rolled onto my side as he pulled back the curtains and opened the window, allowing a white speckled owl to sail in with the cool September breeze. The owl dropped a letter on my stomach before turning in the air and zipping straight back out the window.

I frowned when I picked it up and recognized my name written in Albus Dumbledore's crisp yet curly hand writing on the envelope. I ripped it open as I laid back on the pillows on the mattress. Gabriel returned to the mattress, laying down next to me as I threw the envelope uselessly on the floor. He leaned in close to read the letter.

"Dammit," I hissed sharply as I sat up straight. "You need to get to work, right away."

"Why?" Gabriel sat up behind me and made to take the letter, but before he could another owl came soaring in through the open window. It dropped a small letter on the mattress before turning sharply, just missing the wall of the room, and flying straight back out the window. Gabriel snatched up the letter and tore it open because it has his name on it. "It's from Scrimgeour."

"Probably for the same reason I got Dumbledore's," I said leaning against his shoulder to read his letter.

Sure enough, as I read Scrimgeour's straight and frank looking print I saw that the reason for the letters was indeed the same. Sturgis Podmore, who had been watching the Department of Mysteries last night under Mad-Eye's invisibility cloak, had been caught by a night guard trying to break into one of the doors in the department. This was terrible news for the Order. Not only had a member been caught and lost an invisibility cloak, but if Podmore was found trying to break into the Department of Mysteries it meant that he was either really a Death Eater (which had a number of terrible things connected to it) or he was under a spell. It also meant that whatever my father was looking for must be in the Department of Mysteries.

"Thrett said that if Voldemort is going after something in the Department of Mysteries then we really should worry," I said looking up at Gabriel who had gotten off the bed and started to put his clothes back on.

"Thrett?"

I frowned, remembering that Gabriel didn't meet Henry Thrett at the Order meeting because he was still at St. Mungo's recovering from the bomb blast. I ran my hand through my hair before standing up with the letter from Dumbledore still clenched in my hand.

"He works in the Department of Mysteries. He's in the Order," I replied to Gabriel's questioning look. "He seems to think that we're in a hell of a lot more danger if Voldemort is after something in the Department of Mysteries. I'm not sure how much is to really worry about. What could they possibly have in that basement that would threaten us all more so then Voldemort already does?"

Gabriel gave me a disappointed look. "After all we've been through, all the things we've seen, you're going to question how threatening the unknown can be?"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "It's not the unknown that is threatening."

"Fine," Gabriel said as he wrapped his arms around me. "The mystical? Is that word better?"

"Yes."

He smiled. "If Thrett was concerned then we all should be," Gabriel shrugged. He moved away from me and made for the door of the room. I followed easily as we continued to talk. "I'll head into the Ministry to see what I can find out about Podmore's case. What did Dumbledore say?"

"He asked if I could come to Hogwarts," I replied as we entered the large open room full of our boxes. "Guess I'll have to wait to go to Maine for the rest of our things."

Gabriel nodded, looking slightly pleased. I gave him a nasty look which caused him to smile as he opened a box and pulled out some of his clothing. He was looking for a new shirt and waistcoat. I leaned against the wall by the window and peered out it at the London street that we now lived on.

"You'll be able to ask Carrigan what is the matter," Gabriel said calmly. When I turned to look at him because he had spoken, he was half naked, making my insides turn with hot desire. I bit my bottom lip thinking of what we had started a few moments before the letters arrived. "Cadence?"

I blinked and looked straight up at Gabriel's eyes, away from his rippling six pack that was disappearing under the waist band of this pants.

"Yes?"

Gabriel smirked, an all-knowing-smart-ass grin, that made me glare back at him. He approached me and grabbed my hips to pull me close to him before I could get away.

"I was just saying that it is peculiar we are just now hearing about Podmore," he said as he held me and stared into my eyes. "He went missing the night before the first."

I nodded. "The Ministry was probably interrogating him."

Gabriel frowned but nodded, knowing I was probably right. He pulled away and finished dressing in the fresh clothes. We both made our way downstairs, where I snapped my fingers to make a cloak appear. I pulled it on as Gabriel looked me over.

"You're not armed," he whispered as I reached for the door. I stopped and dropped my hands to my side with a breath of annoyance escaping my lips.

"My wand is in my pocket," I retorted. "And I'm going to Hogwarts for Merlin's sake."

"When did you become such an idiot?" Gabriel snipped as he conjured a knife holster and dropped to his knee in front of me. I grinned slightly as he wrapped the holster around my thigh, buckling it tightly on me. His fingers grazed my thigh playfully before he snapped them to make a knife appear. He slid it in the holster, then leaned forward and kissed my thigh. He stood up and pulled me in his arms.

"Most women wouldn't tolerate being called an idiot," I said softly. "Even if it's coming from a sexy, charming scoundrel."

"You're not most women, Cadence," he replied before kissing me softly. "And even you don't tolerate me calling you an idiot."

"You're right," I nodded shoving him away. "Get off me. We both have work to do."

"You'll be careful?"

"Of course," I said yanking the door open. "I'm not an idiot."

Gabriel smirked as he followed me out onto the front steps of our new home. With a small wave I Disapparate before another word could be exchanged. The last thing I saw was his handsome smiling face and charming purple eyes. My stomach clenched as traveling by Apparation took my body.


	21. Suggestion

The corridors of Hogwarts were empty and quiet when I arrived. It appeared that students were still in their morning classes. As I moved swiftly through the hallways, memories of my young-adult life flashed in my mind, as they always did when I returned to the castle that had been home for so many years. Between school and living there afterwards because it was the only safe place from my father, I had a great deal of memories at Hogwarts. Part of me always left them there, in the bricks of the walls and floors, keeping them from my mind because some of them were too painful. Hogwarts reminded me of a time when I was different. When I was in love with Sirius Black, who didn't appear to love me back the way I should have been; when I was a betraying and terrible girlfriend to a man who loved me because I was falling in love with Gabriel, the one person I hated and shouldn't fall in love with. Hogwarts reminded me of Lily Evans Potter; her beautiful face and glowing green eyes. It reminded me of the wonderful person and friend she was. The memories of her always led to memories of her death, which enraged me.

I was always bittersweet about returning to Hogwarts. I was ambivalent about it. I loved the time I spent here, but I hated remembering a time when I thought I was happy because really it was tainted with betrayal and pain.

"Excuse me," said a sweet voice that made my skin crawl with cold tingles. I blinked, stopped straight in my tracks and looked ahead of me at a short, fat woman dressed in a pink dress, matching cardigan. The woman's black professor robes were open to reveal the disturbing amount of pink clothing.

The hair on the back of my neck curled as I took in her thin lips spread in a sarcastic smile and bittersweet blue eyes, that were as cold as stone, with a questioning expression in them. Her hands were hanging loosely at her sides, one was clenching her wand.

"Can I help you?" she questioned with a high pitched voice.

In the many years that I had lived and visited Hogwarts, no one had ever stopped to inquiry as to why I was on the campus.

"I'm here to see the Headmaster," I said carefully with a sharp look at the woman.

"Do you have an appointment?"

I didn't, but I didn't need one. Dumbledore's letter was enough of an appointment. He had asked to meet at some point to discuss the Order's next actions after Podmore's arrest. He hadn't specified when, but to me it didn't matter. Dumbledore knew me well enough to know that I would be on my way as soon as I received his letter.

"Yes," I said without hesitation. As I took in the woman's smug face and bulging eyes I realized who she was. In all my years at the Ministry I had never crossed paths with her directly, but Dolorous Umbridge was not a strange name to my ears. She was the only professor at Hogwarts who would question my presence in the castle.

"Ms Coleman," she said stepping forward, her horrid lips from a cruel smile. "It is a pleasure to meet you, finally."

She extended a stubby fingered hand to me. I didn't take it. I simply stood before the older woman with a glare so harsh it'd melt flesh from bone. When I didn't take her hand, her smile faded and she returned my dark look.

"The pleasure is mine," I said sarcastically.

"I've also had the pleasure of meeting your daughter. She seems a little misguided," Umbridge continued as she looked up at me. I was at least two feet taller then her in my heels. "But I assure you, my lessons will straighten her out."

I raised my eyebrows high. "_I assure you, Professor_, my daughter is anything but misguided. And if you so much as straighten one of the curly hairs on her head, I will tear you apart."

She stepped back and laughed lightly, a bittersweet and faux laugh that wouldn't fool anyone. She shook her head, causing her grey bob of hair to move around her head. "Perhaps 'misguided' was the wrong word. Troubled is more accurate?"

"Yes," I nodded with a frank expression. "Carrigan becomes very troubled when the Ministry interferes at Hogwarts and pollutes her education to ensure that their agenda based on lies is met."

"Forgive me, but are we talking about your troubles or your daughter's now?" Umbridge said as her cheeks flushed slightly with anger.

"You don't deny it," I bowed my head as I grinned. I stepped past the old fat toad and spoke as I looked over my shoulder. "If you will excuse me, Professor, I'm meeting the Headmaster to discuss the _troubles_ of my daughter."

"I'm afraid that there isn't much the Headmaster can do to aid your daughter's troubles," Umbridge said as she turned to watch me walk away. "I, however, will teach those troubles right out of her."

I didn't look back as I walked away, trying my hardest to ignore Umbridge and not pull a knife on her. My fingers itched to pull the dagger Gabriel had strapped to my thigh and fling it at her…but what good would have come of that?

Dumbledore was in his office when I arrived. I slammed his office door violently, causing him to look up from his desk with raised eyebrows. He set the quill in his hand down and gave me a frank smile.

"I see you received my letter," he said softly as he folded his arms on his lap. His pale blue eyes smiled at me from behind his half-moon glasses; somehow his calm expression relaxed me.

"Yes, but I also ran into Dolorous Umbridge in the halls," I hissed bitterly as I pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him.

Dumbledore smiled meekly and bowed his head. He lifted his wand from the desk and flicked it at me. A tea tray, with tea pot, cups and a bottle of whiskey, appeared on the corner of the desk in front of me. I leaned forward almost instantly and poured the whiskey into two large shot glasses that I conjured. Dumbledore thanked me for the whiskey as I pushed it across the desk to him. He lifted the shot to his thin lips and took it with out a moment's hesitation. I couldn't help but smile. The man never ceased to amaze me.

"How are you Albus?" I asked softly as I sat back in my chair, clutching the shot of whiskey like it was a safety net.

He didn't answer me right away, which worried me. I could see suddenly in his crystal eyes that he had aged, as if over night, since the first time I had met him. For so long he remained ageless to me and suddenly he looked his old age. He rubbed his head as he put down the shot glass.

"I am tired, Cadence," he said as he heaved a sigh. "I am afraid that I do not have the strength for the battle that is about to begin."

"Of course you do," I said returning my shot glass to the desk without taking a sip of it. "You have to."

Dumbledore gave me a weak smile. "I am old, Cadence."

"But how can we defeat Voldemort—"

"I am sure that his fall does not require me," he said quickly to interrupt me. "I think that our fate, and the fate of this country, relies on young Mr. Potter."

I sat back in my chair in mild disbelief. The thought had never crossed my mind, nor did I want to believe that the entire war—the defeat of Voldemort and his evil ways—rested on a fifteen year old boy.

"Preparing Harry for the war is all that matters," Dumbledore nodded to reassure me, and perhaps himself, that what he was saying was true. "Because it is with Harry that we will survive."

I frowned. "Tell me what to do. How to help.'

"I need you to do what you have always done," he said looking me straight in the eye. I gave him a quizzical look before he continued to speak. "Trust your instincts and do what Gabriel taught you."

I frowned. Dumbledore wanted me to hunt down Death Eaters? That was surprising because he used to frown upon murdering murderers. I picked up the shot glass and took the shot of whiskey quickly.

"Alright," I replied to end the conversation. "Tell me about Podmore."

"Unfortunately, I don't think there is anything we can do for him," Dumbledore frowned. He took the hint to change the topic. "Any attempt to justify why he was in the Department of Mysteries puts the Order of the Phoenix at risk."

I nodded in understanding. "And we're sure that Voldemort is after something in the department? You don't think it's a ruse or attempt to distract us?"

"I think I have a very clear idea of what he is looking for in the department."

"What?"

Dumbledore gave me an all-knowing smile, which made my stomach turn with discomfort. He wasn't going to tell me what he knew or suspected. I hated it when the old man kept such important things to himself. I didn't want to be left in the dark when it came to fighting against my father. And I most certainly did not want to be blind sided. I wanted to know what we were up against.

"Very well," I sighed as I stood up. "I will take over Podmore's shifts…and follow up with what you've asked me to do…"

"Thank you, Cadence," Dumbledore said slowly as he picked his quill back up.

"If it's alright, I would like to see Carrigan before I head back home."

"Of course," Dumbledore replied with a smile. "The students should be heading to dinner in a few moments."

"If she wishes, do you mind if I take her to Hogsmeade for dinner?"

"No, of course not."

"Thank you," I reached for the door handle of the office, but paused for a moment to look back at Dumbledore. "Albus, have you given any thought to what 'Cepheus' is?"

Dumbledore looked up at me with a sad frown as he shook his head. "I'm afraid, Cadence, that I cannot find any information on it. I'm not sure what it is or what it has to do with Mr. Scott's investigation."

"Well, because he was investigating it, I'm almost positive it has to do with Penelope Talon," I replied. "Thank you for looking."

"I will keep looking," Dumbledore replied.

I bowed my head and left the office without another word. Despite what he said, I could see that there was a great deal on Dumbledore's mind. If I wanted to figure out what Cepheus was and how it related to Penelope Talon I was going to have to do it myself.

When I arrived downstairs, I found most of the student body collecting in the dinning hall for dinner. As I stepped into the hall, with four long tables, one for each house, and a head table at the front of the room for staff, I did not see Carrigan anywhere.

"Mom?"

I turned sharply on my heel and smiled brightly at Carrigan, who was standing behind me looking surprised. I opened my arms to embrace her, and she returned the affection meekly. I kissed her forehead and stepped back to look at her.

Her blue eyes were dancing with delight, and her full lips were spread in a smile. Waves of brown curls surrounded her face, and moved with each turn of her head. I smiled at her. She looked happier then she ever had at Grimmauld Place, which lifted my heart.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned.

"I got your letter," I replied as I looked behind her to see Benjamin standing close by. "Hello Benjamin."

"Hello Cadence, it nice to see you."

"How are you holding up?"

"Just fine," he said uncomfortably with a forced smile. I saw his eyes fall on the locket around my neck. He stared at it for only a moment with curious ice blue eyes.

"Carrigan, can I speak to you for a moment?" I asked looking back at my daughter.

"Can we go to the Three Broomsticks?" she questioned excitedly. "I have lots to talk about. I need more then a moment."

I couldn't help but smile at my daughter's eagerness to spend time with me. "Yes, we can."

"Do not forget that we have to train tonight, Carri," Benjamin said slowly as he looked down at her.

"I know," she sighed quickly.

"Don't worry, Benjamin, I'll have her back in time."

Benjamin bowed his head.

"Benjamin!" called a girl's voice to our right. We all looked to see a beautiful red-head moving through the crowd of students. She was tall and slim, looked to be about sixteen or seventeen, and had pretty, purple eyes. Benjamin stood up straight and looked between Carrigan and I.

"If you'll excuse me," he said. "Cadence, it was nice to see you. Carrigan, I'll meet you in McGonagall's classroom at seven."

"Alright," Carrigan said as he walked off towards the red-head. It appeared he didn't even hear her, and when I looked at Carrigan her eyes betrayed her. She was hurt by his apparent dismissal.

"Well," I said slowly. "It appears that Benjamin is getting along at Hogwarts after all."

"Yea," Carrigan said. "Let's go."

She turned on her heel and exited the dinning hall quickly. I followed slowly before turning to look over my shoulder at Benjamin who was walking down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables with his arm wrapped around the red-head's waist. I frowned deeply. I had a feeling I knew exactly what Carrigan was feeling. I had felt the same way as she did now when I saw Gabriel with other women. I caught up to her in the entrance hall. She was waiting for me with annoyed eyes.

"What prompted your letter?" I asked to change the subject, even though I wanted to discuss her feelings. I knew that when Carrigan was ready to talk about whatever she was feeling for Benjamin, she would.

"Let's not discuss it here," she said quietly as she peered across the hall. I followed her gaze to see that she was staring at Divinity Jasper. My niece was standing at the bottom of the grand staircase talking with Draco Malfoy, a sly skinny looking blonde boy. I raised my eyebrows and looked at Carrigan.

"Paranoid?"

Carrigan smirked. "Shouldn't you and Gabriel be proud?"

I shrugged as I pulled open the great oak doors of the castle. "I've never not been proud of you Carrigan."

Carrigan rolled her eyes and lead the way out of the castle. The walk to Hogsmeade and the Three Broomsticks was silent. I could see the wheels in Carrigan's head turning as we walked, but once again, I did not want to push her. She was so touchy now-a-days, that I didn't want to over step my boundaries or force her to be closed off to me.

"You can ask, if you want," she whispered as we took a seat in the Three Broomsticks. I flushed and shook my head with annoyance. She was no better then Gabriel when she read my mind so easily.

"If you blocked me, I wouldn't read your mind."

I glared at her this time. "Carrigan," I said very slowly. "I've put up with a lot of your disobedience because I don't want to push you, but frankly I'm tired of it. I am your mother. Please do not disrespect me by reading my mind and then telling me to block you. It's rude and condescending. You may be more powerful then I am, but you do not know more then I do. Years of experience means a great deal more then being powerful. Being powerful means very little in fact, unless you know how to use and control your powers."

Carrigan frowned as she sat back in her chair and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "I was not expecting that…"

"Why? You thought you could continue to walk all over me?" I retorted with a questioning glare. Carrigan looked down at her lap with a sad expression. She seemed embarrassed and uncomfortable.

"I don't mean to be disobedient, Mom," she said looking up at me. "I'm sorry."

"What is going on? Why are you so defensive?"

"I just feel like I have to be all the time," Carrigan replied. "There is never a moment when Benjamin isn't testing me…when Ginny isn't pushing me to talk…when Professor's aren't breathing down my back about school work…when it's silence in my head. I have to keep my defenses up so I don't go insane."

"Your telepathy is not improving?"

"It's gotten worse since I returned to school," she whispered sadly. "Like it was last year, just like Benjamin said it would…I put my defenses up because I feel like I'm going to explode. I don't want to lose it in front of everyone…they already think I'm a freak as it is."

"What do you mean?" I asked carefully.

"Well, I've been having those bad dreams still," Carrigan said very slowly as she looked at me. "About you being tortured to death. But, they've turned into night terrors. Stuff shakes and breaks a lot more now when I loose my temper. And I forget sometimes that I can hear people's thoughts, so I reply to them as if they actually said something. It just all really freaks people out. Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Harry are really the only people still talking to me. Oh, and Benjamin of course."

She stopped speaking after she added Benjamin's name to the short list of friends she had. For a few moments, she didn't look me in the eye; once she seemed to compose herself she looked back into my dark eyes.

"But it's fine," she whispered. "I don't need anyone but them. So, to make sure I don't loose it in front of people anymore, I put up my defenses, to keep everyone out…even my friends."

I nodded slowly. I wasn't sure what to tell her. In ways, I had experienced some of the same things as Carrigan, but at the same time her experience was very different then mine.

"How bad has it been?"

"Yesterday was the worst," she whispered. "I caused all of the benches to flip in the dinning hall as people were coming in for dinner. People tripped over them or fell off of them if they had been sitting. It was terrible. No one seemed to know what had happened, or that I caused it, but Benjamin knew. He knew right away that it was me. He always knows…"

"What triggered it?"

Carrigan bit her bottom lip and hesitated as she stared at me. "Madison asked him out."

I nodded slowly. "I see…" I said, assuming that Madison was the red-head I had seen in the dinning hall.

"It's not what you think," Carrigan said quickly as she leaned forward on the table. "It's not because I like him or anything like that. I was just mad that he's being a hypocrite. He doesn't think I should have personal relationships, but he's allowed to?"

"He's not in training," I shrugged easily. "Gabriel was the same way about some things."

"Well, it's stupid," she snipped back quickly. "What worries me the most is that it's only been a week. I've been here a week and it's this bad…what if I don't get control of it? What if I am loosing control of everything?"

"You're not," I said quickly as I took her hand. "You're going to get control of it. You have to believe that, Carrigan. You have to believe in yourself."

Carrigan gave me a sad frown with dark blue eyes. I could see that she wasn't sure what she believed anymore.

"Tell me about the locket," she whispered changing the topic.

"How did you know about it?"

She reached across the table and picked it up from where it hung around my neck.

"You're not exactly hiding it," she replied. "You were thinking about it on the way to King's Cross last week. You think that Benjamin may be Penelope's son?"

There was skepticism on her tongue, which didn't surprise me. I didn't know what I believed or thought anymore either, especially when it came to Penelope Talon. There were too many unanswered questions and too many 'if' factors. It did seem like too much of a coincidence that Benjamin would be Penelope's son; if there was one thing I believed in, it was that there was no such thing as coincidences.

"I'm not sure just yet," I responded. "I found the locket in Penelope's stay room at Crouch's. You have to admit that those men look like Benjamin. That could very easily be his father and him as a baby."

"But that doesn't mean Penelope is his mother," Carrigan said as she studied the pictures.

"You're right," I nodded. "I found information regarding a Thomas Snow, who lived in our village ten years ago with his second wife. They were both Muggles. Snow moved there after the disappearance of his first wife and son."

"Maybe they disappeared on purpose," Carrigan whispered breathlessly. She looked uneasy by this news. "It seems strange that Penelope would let Benjamin keep his surname. Wouldn't she have made him change it?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure…we'll figure it out, though. Did you actually tell Benjamin about the locket?"

"No. I just wanted to let you know that I wanted to talk about it. Dad said I should be careful what I put in writing, even codes can be broken."

"He's right."

"Is he alright?"

"Yes," I nodded. "As alright as he ever will be. Gabriel and I have found a brownstone in London."

"So he's at Headquarters alone?"

"Yes," I whispered. "Remus said he'd stay over occasionally."

"Are you worried about him being alone?"

"No," I laughed lightly. "He's a grown man, Carrigan. He'll be fine."

Carrigan nodded slowly in understanding as the waitress approached, ready to take our order. We ordered potato soup, a half loaf of bread and two butterbeers. Once the waitress took our order and the left the table, I looked back at Carrigan. Her brown curls were rippling down around her face in delicate waves and her dark blue eyes looked worried, as if she was afraid of something that we hadn't discussed yet.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm just worried," she whispered. "About everything. Is there a way for us to be prepared for what Voldemort is planning?"

"I hope so," I replied. "We just have to keep living and preparing for anything."

"I suppose," she said uneasily.

"You're still unsure about this war?"

"Of course," she said quickly. "I don't know if I want to fight or kill people."

"You don't have to kill people," I responded. "Unless someone is trying to kill you, then I would say defend yourself."

Carrigan gave me a sarcastic look, like I had said something stupid.

"Well Carrigan, I don't know what else to tell you."

"Mom, you almost died," she said quickly with a touch of anger. "You almost died. Gabriel almost died. Benjamin and I almost died in June. Dad keeps risking his life because he's irresponsible. We almost died in that alley!"

"But we didn't," I said quickly. "We fought. We're tough. Tough times don't last, tough people do. We will survive like we always have, because we're strong girls, Carrigan."

She looked doubtful, but didn't say anything. Before I could say anything else to comfort her a dark figure approached and slide into the booth next to Carrigan. The man grabbed onto her and stuck a knife tip sharply against her throat. Carrigan didn't move; she froze on the spot as her eyes filled with fear. My heart sank into my stomach as the dark eyes and harsh face of the man in black glared at me. It happened so fast, I was not prepared for any of it, which seemed ironic considering what Carrigan and I were just discussing.

"Carrigan, put your hands on the table," he said sternly as he stared straight ahead at me. I watched as Carrigan did as she was told. "Don't do anything rash, either of you."

"What do you want?" I questioned quickly. Anger and frustration were boiling up inside of me. How the hell did this man know where we were? And how did he know Carrigan's name? My hand was itching to grab the knife on my thigh, but there was too much of a risk.

"I just want to have a conversation—"

"Yea, I know, about Cepheus," I interrupted. "But I don't know anything about it. Stop pointing that knife at my daughter!"

"Answer my questions and I will," he said sternly. This guy had a lot of guts. He was openly threatening Carrigan and I in the public eye. There were only a few other people in the pub, but still, there were enough to be witnesses to the assault.

"Fine, what do you want?" I snipped even though I knew I wouldn't be able to answer all of his questions.

"Why was Scott investigating Cepheus?"

"I don't know," I insisted as I kept my eyes on Carrigan, who looked as though she had relaxed.

_He has a second knife on his right thigh. I don't see his wand._ Her voice was calm in my mind, which was comforting to me.

_Don't do anything. Let's keeping him talking for a few moments._

_ I can reach the knife. I could stab him—_

_ Don't do anything!_

"You didn't trust him, Princess," the man in black said, drawing my attention back to him. Only Death Eaters called me 'princess.' The nickname made my blood boil, which this man obviously knew, because he smirked at me with evil eyes. "I'm sure you followed up on everything he did, that is why you were in the pub that night."

"The night you blew it up, you mean?"

"Your husband caused me to take extreme measures," he shrugged easily. "I didn't want you figuring out who I was."

"Why? What is Cepheus?" I questioned. "Why shouldn't I know about it?"

The man in black laughed at me, but stopped suddenly. His eyes had fallen on the locket around my neck. With his free hand he reached forward for it.

"Where did you get this?" he questioned as he lifted it from my neck. There was recognition in his eyes as he held it delicately with his fingers. I glanced at Carrigan, who responded to my stare as if it were a cue. She grabbed onto the man in black's wrist and redirected the knife away from her. I grabbed the hand that was holding the locket and arm wrestled it to the table. Carrigan slammed the dagger, which was still in his own hand, into his forearm. He let out a gut splitting cry, which drew all attention in the pub to us. People screamed and moved away from us as I stood up from the table and grabbed onto the man in black's cloak collar.

"Excuse us," I said easily. "Had an accident with a knife."

I pulled the man out of the booth and dragged him forward out of the pub. Carrigan quickly followed us, picking up our cloaks as I made for the door.

"Shouldn't serve with such sharp knives," she said to the waitress who had just dropped a tray full of our dinner order. Carrigan smiled and moved quickly behind me, out into the darkness of Hogsmeade.

Outside, I yanked the dagger out of the man in black's arm. I pressed it to his throat, forcing him to stand up rigidly, as Carrigan stepped forward and pulled the knife from his thigh. She also pulled open his cloak to look for his wand.

"Got it," she whispered once she found it in his inside cloak pocket.

"Let's go," I said grabbing his collar and pressing the dagger into his stomach. I guided him forward towards Hogwarts, it was the only place I could think of to take him where he couldn't escape. "Carrigan, run ahead, get Dumbledore. Quickly as you can."

She nodded her head and put the dagger in the harness on my thigh, next to the one Gabriel gave me. Without a word she dashed off ahead of us towards the castle, running faster then I had ever seen her run.

"You weren't interested in what Scott was doing, were you?" the man in black questioned. "You're interested in Savanna Snow."

"Who the hell is Savanna Snow?" I questioned in bewilderment as we walked up the path towards the glowing towers of Hogwarts Castle. My stomach jerked with uneasiness. Savanna Snow? Was it possible that this bastard knew who Benjamin's mother was? And if he did, how did she relate to him and Cepheus? How did she relate to what Mitchell Scott was investigating?

"You should know," he retorted sharply. "You're wearing her locket."


	22. Shaking

Thankfully, the entrance hall of Hogwarts was empty as I dragged the man in black through the large oak doors. I had to figure out his name because I was sick of thinking of him as 'the man in black.' I looked around the empty hall as he cradled his injured hand. No one was to be found, but talking and noise could be heard in the dinning hall. Apparently people were still eating dinner. My eyes fell on a half-opened classroom door on the left side of the hall. I never knew there to be classrooms on the first floor; perhaps this room was an old closet or office converted into a classroom.

I moved swiftly across the hall to the classroom and disappeared into it. I slammed the door behind me and threw the man in black into one of the desks. He groaned as he laid across the desk top. He sat up slowly, clearly in deep pain, and looked at me with bitter dark eyes.

"Why are you asking about Savanna?" he questioned as he peered at me. I placed my dagger on the front desk before putting my hands on my hips. I looked at him sternly as I debated internally if I should tie him up or let him lay on the desk. His question meant nothing to me. I was going to ask the questions, once I figured out exactly what I wanted to ask.

I stepped forward, ignoring his question, and grabbed his hands. He cussed as I snatched his bleeding palm and held it against his good hand. I tapped my wand against his hands. Bright blue rope shot out from the wand tip and wrapped securely around his wrists. He rolled his eyes as he sat back on the desk top.

"Really?" he lifted his hands in front of his face. His tone was dripping with sarcasm which only antagonized me more. I had to rely on every strand of restraint of my being to not hit him over the head with the hilt of the dagger that lay on the desk.

"I'm not taking any chances," I replied as I pointed my wand at his feet and bound his ankles together. Once they were tied tightly, he lost his balance and fell over onto the ground. He groaned with deep discomfort as he lay on the stone floor of the classroom. I remained silent and moved to stand next to the teacher's desk at the front of the room. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the desk as I watched him remain motionless on the floor. His eyes were glaring up at me with loathing, which warmed my heart.

"What is your name?" I asked very calmly.

The man in black didn't move or say a word. I sighed with some annoyance before standing up straight and turning to the desk. I picked up the dagger that I had laid on the desktop and crotched down in front of the man.

"Listen," I said still calm. I waved the knife in front of his face carelessly as I talked. "You've threatened my life and my daughter's. You nearly killed my husband and are responsible for the death of my ex-partner. You're also being a real pain in my ass. So, answer my questions and maybe you'll walk out of here with both of your knee caps."

The man laughed softly as he rolled onto his back. "Really? My knee caps?"

"Is there something else I can remove for you?" I asked as I placed the tip of the dagger against his jaw line, right below the ear. I pressed the blade up against the lobe of his ear. The smile fell off his face and he glared at me again. Perhaps he would take me seriously now. "Now, let's start with simple questions. Who are you?"

The man in black hesitated, considering his options as he closed his eyes to not look at me. He opened his stone cold eyes to glare at me within a moment, and then he spoke.

"My name is Demetri Devonshire," he said very carefully. I nodded as I heeded him, but there was no doubt in my mind that the name was an alias.

"And who is Savanna Snow?"

"My partner," he responded shortly. "Listen, _Princess_," he said as he rolled towards me and grabbed my hand holding the knife against his jaw line with his bound hands. My eyes flashed with hatred when he called me 'princess.' The nickname always caused a fire to light in my body that built up a rage so ravage that I wanted to kill Mr. Devonshire with my bare hands. "You can threaten me all you want, but you won't get anything else out of me. I answer to more powerful and dangerous people then you. You don't scare me, they do. And there is no way in hell I will betray them because of that fear."

"Are you referring to my father?" I asked easily because his words didn't shake me much. I knew it was going to be a trail to get him to talk. I didn't think he'd spill his heart out to me if I pointed a knife at him…and if he did, well, I would seriously question the validity of this words.

"He is one of many that I serve," Devonshire said as he laid back.

"Your life has to have some value."

"Not if it means betraying my masters."

I rolled my eyes as the classroom door opened sharply. I stood up from where I was crotched and watched as Albus Dumbledore entered the classroom, with Severus Snape closely on his tail.

"Hello, Albus," I said calmly.

"Cadence," he sighed with mild disapproval. "Please tell me you weren't planning on skinning our guest here on the classroom floor."

"I was going to," I responded dryly to his sarcastic comment. "But I've discovered that it won't do me any good. He insists he'd rather die then betray his…_masters_."

"Why are you interested in this man?" Snape asked as he passed Dumbledore like a sticky shadow creeping out from the corners of a dark room. I studied him as he approached Devonshire and me. He was greasy looking as ever, with long black straight hair and pale, waxy skin. His beady dark eyes locked on Devonshire, and I cringed. What if he and Snape were in on something? It was no secret that Snape was a double-agent of the Order, and my father thought he was a double-agent for him, how could I trust which side he was on?

"First of all, he threatened my daughter in a public place," I hissed. "Secondly, he's responsible for the boom that put Gabriel in a comma—"

"So, this is a personal grudge?" Snape questioned looking up at me.

He set my body on fire with anger. "No, Severus! This is a matter of principles. This man," I pointed ruthlessly at Devonshire on the floor. "Has been following and hunting _me_ for information, which I know nothing about. Now, it's my turn to get some information."

"His name is Rickon Form," Severus said standing up straight.

"Traitor!" Form shouted from the floor abruptly. "I always knew you were a bloody traitor! The Dark Lord will know of your betrayal, Snape—"

"Forgive me, Form," Snape interjected as he glared down at the Death Eater. "But you won't ever see the Dark Lord again."

Form cursed up at Snape loudly and spat on his feet. I lunged forward and kicked Form in the face, knocking him back away from Snape. Dumbledore remained silent as Snape's cold words hung in the poorly light classroom. I didn't move from my position over Form as I looked over at Dumbledore. He didn't look happy, but obviously didn't know what else to do in the situation. He folded his hands behind his back and studied Form with his baby blue, crystal eyes.

"What was it you were looking for?" Snape asked directing the question at me. He reached his hand into his pocket and produced a small clear vile. I stared at it with raised eyebrows for a moment as he extended it to me.

"A few things," I whispered easily as I looked into Snape's dark eyes and took the vile.

"This should help," he said sternly. I nodded and turned my attention back to Form, who was cringing on the floor from the kick in the face I had delivered. I crotched down and grabbed his jaw and squeezed tightly to force his mouth open. I popped the cork of the vile off with my thumb and flipped it upside down over Form's open lips.

"It should only take a few moments for the _veritaserum _to start working," Snape said. "If that is all, Headmaster?"

"Yes, thank you, Severus," Dumbledore said quietly. His eyes hadn't left Form. I looked over my shoulder at the two men behind me as Form relaxed on the floor. His eyes were rolling back easily, as if he were given a sleeping potion, not a truth serum.

Severus Snape made his leave with a swirl of black cloak sailing behind him. Once the classroom door was closed I looked directly at Dumbledore.

_Where is Carrigan?_

He looked at me with raised eyebrows, it was first time he had stopped looking at Form. He probably thought it curious that I was using Legilimency to speak to him, but I didn't want Form to hear us speaking, especially about Carrigan.

_I instructed her to wait in the hospital wing for us to return. Madame Pomphrey is looking after her._

_Is she alright?_

_ Yes, just shaken up._

I turned away from Dumbledore with deep concern. A year ago, Carrigan wasn't shook up by anything. Since my near-death experience last June she had been like a baby-dear that was easily scared by any sudden change of events. Of course her fear and discomfort was justified; we lived in dark and scary times; but how did I make it better? How could I help her manage the stress our life caused?

Rickon Form was looking straight up at me with an angry expression. I sat back on my bottom and crossed my arms over my chest while still holding the dagger in one hand. Form was now alert and seemed aware that he had been given a truth serum.

"What is your name?" Dumbledore asked because I didn't say anything.

"Rickon Form," Form answered instantly. After he spoke, he groaned in annoyance. Obviously, he was trying to fight the potion, but it was no use. Dumbledore and I had to move quickly to get all of the answers we needed before the potion wore off.

"Who are you working for?" Dumbledore questioned before I could begin to ask every question that was burning on my lips.

"Voldemort," he responded.

"So, fearing your masters was all a bunch of talk?" I retorted sarcastically.

"Yes."

Dumbledore gave me a cross look, which caused me to frown and look away.

"What is Cepheus?" I asked before Dumbledore could ask another question. I figure this was the most important question of them all.

"Cepheus is the code-name of a research operation for Voldemort," Form spoke softly as he lay on the stone ground before me.

"What sort of research?"

"The Dark Lord has been interested in immortality," Form continued. "He asked us to perform spells and research on his granddaughter, Haiden Drake. He believed that her blood was key to discovering a way for him to live forever because of her divine lineage. He performed a blood bond on her to ensure that her blood was in his system, then ordered us to test and mutilate her blood to make sure she was in fact immortal. If the spells worked on Haiden, we would then apply them to the Dark Lord. But he was mistaken. Nothing we have done has proven that Haiden is immortal. Her mother was not a goddess, she was an American whore and her father just happened to be blessed with the gift of foresight that passed to her."

My entire body froze. My blood curdled and turned to ice. I thought my heart might actually stop beating. Form's words were too chilling for me to fully comprehend. They enraged me. I turned away from Form because every inch of me was shaking with anger and itching to punch his snide face in.

He and Savanna Snow were responsible for performing the spells and potions on Haiden that had corrupted her and turned her into a schizophrenic with multiple personalities. They were the reason she was trapped, fighting to take control of her own body. Them and my father, of course.

"You believe Haiden is not immortal?" Dumbledore continued.

"It's not a belief. It's a fact. She is not immortal," Form replied honestly, because he didn't have the choice. "However, the spells we performed slowed her aging process. She doesn't have immortal divinity. She can die. And she will, but not for a long time. She will live for ages…the Dark Lord wanted us to perform the spells on him. They brought him closer to immortality…but Savanna convinced him not to do it. Haiden is broken now. She is ill and mentally deranged. The spells and magic we used demented her. Savanna did not want that to happen to the Dark Lord."

I turned back around as my entire body shook with anger and slammed my fist into Rickon Form's face. He cried out and rolled away from me, covering his face with his bound hands, and nursed his bloody nose which was now broken. Dumbledore grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back.

"Cadence!" he scolded. "We must remain calm!"

"She was an innocent little girl!" I screamed in rage. "You destroyed her! You took away her life and her freedom!"

Form laughed easily despite the pain he was in as he withered on the floor with blood pouring down his lips and chin. "Her life would have been taken either way. If Braven hid her any longer the Dark Lord would have killed them both in frustration."

"Who is Savanna?" Dumbledore asked, still holding my shoulder with a tight grip.

"She was my partner," Form said sadly. "The Dark Lord asked her personally to take on the responsibility of his granddaughter. He believed her to be a guardian of sorts and thought she would be able to teach Haiden while studying her."

"Where is she?"

"Dead."

"When?"

"Sometime this past spring or summer. I haven't seen her since early May. The Dark Lord told me she sacrificed herself to ensure his return."

I looked sharply at Form, who was holding his shirtsleeve against his nose to absorb the blood, as my mind took in his comments.

"What did she look like?" I whispered with a shaking voice.

Form didn't answer right away. I was afraid suddenly that the potion had worn out and we were out of time.

"She looked like you," Form replied after a moment of silence.

My heart dropped into my stomach. Penelope Talon was Savanna Snow. That was why Mitchell Scott was investigating Rickon Form. He probably didn't know what he was getting in to, or that his sister was such a sinister bitch.

"Who is the man and boy in this locket?" I asked picking it up from around my neck.

"She never said," he said softly. "She never talked about her past. I only caught her looking at those pictures once. When I asked, she said they were the reason she was with the Dark Lord now."

I frowned deeply. Form's information confirmed that Penelope was Benjamin's mother. I pulled my shoulder out of Dumbledore's grasp and moved to lean against the desk at the front of the room. I set my feet flat on the ground, with my knees bent in front of me, and propped my elbows on my knees as I held my head.

My mind was reeling…Penelope Talon was Savanna Snow. Penelope was Benjamin's mother. Cepheus was the code name of the research performed on Haiden Drake, my niece. Penelope had led the research on Haiden and completely damaged her.

"Cadence," Dumbledore called my attention.

I blinked and looked up at him, in a fog because of everything that I had learned.

"Please alert Gabriel," he said. "I need his assistance to take care of Form. I would prefer that you and he remove Form from the castle as quickly as possible."

"Of course," I replied. "I'll send a letter when I get up to the hospital wing and check on Carrigan."

"Send Snape back in," Dumbledore ordered.

I stood up slowly and nodded to acknowledge his command. I paused for a moment as I walked away to look back at Form over my shoulder.

"Why the code name Cepheus?"

"Cepheus had a single daughter and two granddaughters: Andromeda, Autochthe, and Gorgophone," Form replied as he looked up at me with a jeer. "The Dark Lord has the same: Kieran, Divinity and Liadan. He wanted to ensure his legacy lasted forever, just like Cepheus' legacy remains forever in the stars."

My blood chilled again as I stared at Form and the desks in the room began to shake around us. Liadan must be the name Voldemort had given Carrigan. Just like he named me Kieran. The thought of him naming my daughter made my skin crawl with loathing. I wanted more then ever to find him and pummel his face in. Dumbledore stepped forward, blocking my view of Form.

"Cadence, excuse yourself now," he said sternly. I glared at Dumbledore's harsh crystal blue eyes before turning on my heel and leaving the room. How did he and Gabriel always manage to make me feel like a disobedient child?

Outside in the entrance hall, I found Snape hovering by the door.

"The headmaster would like you to join him," I motioned to the door that was cracked open behind me.

Snape said nothing to me; he barely looked at me, in fact, before he disappeared into the classroom. I sighed and rolled my shoulders back as I tried to relax. My mind was still racing, trying to comprehend the new information and figure out what my next move was.

Carrigan.

I thought of my daughter almost instantly. She was the next thing I needed to worry about. I needed to make sure she was okay.

When I lifted my head to move forward in the hall, towards the marble staircase that lead into the labyrinth of corridors that made up Hogwarts, my eyes fell on a single figure at the base of the stairs.

My niece Haiden Drake, or rather Divinity Jasper, was standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking at me with dark curious eyes. I frowned as I approached her. She was regal looking; standing up with perfect posture and her arms hanging in front of her and hands folded together. Her hair was pin straight, half-blond and half-black; and as usual, her eyes were mismatching; one a dangerous crystal blue, and the other a dark green, like her father's.

She was not in her school robes. Instead, she wore black three inch heels that covered her entire foot and cut at the ankle, black tights and a thigh length black dress that had a belt, and was buttoned and collared like a blouse.

I paused for a moment as I took in her appearance.

"Good evening," she said very calmly. I felt as if she were expecting me, which gave me goose-bumps. I didn't like that this girl always seemed to know more then me. "You know very well that I am not a girl, Cadence."

I rolled my shoulders back as I stared at Divinity, it was indeed Divinity that was speaking to. If it was Haiden she would have called me Aunt Cadence.

"How long have you known?"

"Grandpapa told me that I was special a long time ago," she said as she stepped down the last step of the staircase to approach me. Her heels clicked delicately on the stone floor of the hall, like icicles cracking softly in a winter breeze. "He promised me that I would live for a very long time, longer then him possibly."

"Voldemort doesn't make promises, he blackmails people into deals," I replied as she continued to approach. "What is the price of you living forever?"

"There is no price, Cadence," Divinity said as if I were stupid. "I love Grandpapa and I will make sure that his legacy lives on, no matter how long he lives."

Her voice made the hair on the back of my neck curl with discomfort. She could give Dolorous Umbridge a few lessons in talking with a bittersweet tone that reminded children of nails dragged on a chalkboard.

"Who do you have in the classroom?" she asked with a sharp glare.

"Ask Persephone," I said side-stepping Divinity and moving for the stairs. I paused for a moment, about six steps up, and looked back because Divinity had not responded. She had turned and was glaring up at me with such nasty eyes I thought that my head would explode if she had powers like Carrigan or I.

I smirked as I read the distress and anger on her face. I moved back down two of the steps and crossed my arms over my chest.

"You haven't had a vision in sometime," I said.

Divinity didn't respond. She simply turned on her heel and marched away from me towards the dungeons. Without a second thought, I turned and headed up the stairs to the hospital wing; a cool shiver escaped my body and I took a deep breath. When I looked down at my hands as I walked, I noticed that they were shaking. I paused for a moment and leaned against the corridor wall before the stairwell that would take me to the seventh floor. For the first time, I realized that my entire body was still shaking; Carrigan wasn't the only one who was shook up after the days events.


	23. A Prophecy and A Pistol

I was sitting at the kitchen table, staring blankly at the bare walls of the kitchen in the new house Gabriel and I had just bought, when I heard the front door open and close. I assumed it had to be Gabriel returning form his errand for Dumbledore. No one else knew where the brownstone was located. I didn't look over my shoulder, but I could hear Gabriel's footsteps coming down the hallway. He entered the kitchen and approached me, touching my shoulders gently as he stood behind my chair.

"I'm surprised you're still up," he said calmly, breaking the silence that I had been sitting in for at least two hours. His voice sounded like satin, which provided me some comfort. My body was still electrically charged from my visit to Hogwarts.

"I can't sleep," I whispered. "Too much on my mind."

"Having these answers doesn't change anything, Cadence," Gabriel advised. "We have to keep working on what is right in front of us, like Podmore's situation."

"I thought it would bring some ease to know what Form was after, why he was so intent on hunting us and who Savanna Snow is," I replied, still in a low whisper, as I ignored Gabriel's comment for the most part. "I didn't expect any of these things."

"The facts are the facts. There is nothing we can do to change what happened in the past. You have to look at the positive outcomes of today's situation. Now, Form will not be coming after you or Carrigan. Because he is dead perhaps there is some hope that Haiden will be able to break free of Divinity's hold on her. If the spells and potions aren't still being used on her, perhaps she can overpower Divinity for good."

"You killed him?"

Gabriel was silent for a moment. I turned in my chair, forcing his hands to move away from my shoulders, and looked up at him. I clenched the back of my chair with white hands. "I took care of it," he said as I stared up at him.

"Alright," I nodded. I turned away as my skin crawled with discomfort. I didn't want to think about Gabriel's actions. There was a time, many years ago, that I would have done the dirty work myself. The idea of killing people to silence them, however, was now becoming a guilty burden on my conscious. I closed my eyes to forget the dark thoughts in my dead, and forced a change of subject. "My Father will know Form is missing. Divinity knows we had someone in that classroom—"

"You ran into Divinity?"

"Yes," I replied. "She will conclude that it was Form we had captured because I made it clear that I knew her situation. She has known for sometime, Voldemort told her she would live for a long time. She seems intent on keeping his legacy strong if he does not achieve immortality."

"That is his goal then?"

"Yes," I nodded carefully as I stared at the wall. I bit my bottom lip and gripped the arms of the kitchen chair tightly. "Divinity's future is not the only thing on my mind," I said to break the silence that had fallen. "She will have to be stopped, just like Voldemort, but I am also worried that Form said he served many _masters_. Who else could he be serving?"

"I don't know if we should worry about it," Gabriel said as he touched my shoulders again.

"How can you say that?"

"Look at what is right in front of us," he advised. "Podmore's situation and stopping your father. Evil will always exist in the world, Cadence. We can't stop it all. But we can stop the evil that is before us, destroying lives. We don't know what Form was referring to. For all we know he was making it up to confuse you, or he had a distorted view on reality."

"Fine," I whispered as I rubbed my forehead. It would just be easier to let it go. I wasn't going to stop worrying about the possibility of a threat other then Voldemort or Divinity. I would worry about that tomorrow.

"How is Carrigan?" It was Gabriel's turn to change the subject and break the tension that was spread in the room.

"Well," I replied as I turned to look at him. "She was fine in the hospital wing, itching to get out of there and see if I was okay. She wasn't hurt at all."

"Did Benjamin make her train?"

"No. I asked him not to."

The disappointment was clear in Gabriel's eyes. He thought I should have done otherwise; I should have ensured that Carrigan trained because it would have been an outlet for her anger, frustration and fear. I turned back around to face the blank wall of the kitchen. In my opinion, there was no right or wrong answer.

"Form won't be the last one to come after us," I said to change the delicate subject back to one of Gabriel's pervious comments. I did not want to argue about Carrigan, or Guardian's, or even Penelope Talon. I didn't even want to think about that bitch and what she had done to my family…

"We are safe here," Gabriel said as he touched my shoulders again.

"No where is safe, Gabriel," I replied sorely. "I always thought I was safe with Sirius, but our houses always burnt down around us."

"Those homes burned down around you because of other reasons, not because of your safety. Voldemort wants me dead as much as you. We are both betrayers to him," Gabriel continued in a calm voice despite my negative and antagonizing attitude. "We have both survived this long, and we will continue to do so."

I grabbed his left hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. He bent down and kissed the side of my neck affectionately, then kissed the top of my head, before wrapping his arms around my shoulders and holding me tightly as I sat in the chair.

"What did the Ministry say about Podmore?"

"He's been sent to Azkaban," Gabriel whispered in my ear before he kissed it. "They wouldn't give me much details because I am not assigned to the case. I didn't want them to start wondering why I was so interested in the case, so I let up. Shacklebolt, Tonks and Arthur are all keeping an ear open."

"I told Dumbledore I would take over his shifts."

"Those are late nights, Cadence."

"I'm not doing anything else now," I replied with a lazy shrug. "Might as well make myself useful."

Gabriel nodded, but when he didn't speak I looked over my shoulder to see that his shoulder's were slumped and his dark eyes looked very uncomfortable.

"What's the matter?"

"I just worry about you," he said easily. "Which I have a right to!" he added quickly as my face turned stern and perturbed. He stroked my hair behind my ear before he continued speaking. "As your husband, I have a right to worry about you all the time."

"As my husband, you should trust that you don't have to worry. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."

"I know," he conceded. "That's something that I love about you. But that doesn't mean that I shouldn't worry about you taking care of yourself. We live in a dangerous time, Cadence. And we are both being hunted by your father. I have every right to be worried about you."

I scowled and turned back in my chair. He was right. He was always right.

"Besides, Podmore must have been under the Imperius Curse. Why else would he try to open the door into the Department of Mysteries?"

I turned in my chair sharply and looked up at Gabriel. "Is that where he was trying to get, for certain?"

"That's what Shacklebolt told me. When the security guards found him he was dumbfounded. Someone lifted the curse just as they arrived, which means that someone inside the Ministry is getting close to what we're trying to protect."

I frowned deeply. "It's no surprise that my father has people in the Ministry."

"Of course not," Gabriel agreed. "But it's unnerving how close they're coming to getting into the department."

"What does Dumbledore think?"

"That we should continue to guard the door," Gabriel said easily. I could tell by the tone of his voice, and look in his eyes, that he did not agree with Dumbledore's direction. Perhaps, he thought we should take a more radical route to defending the Department of Mysteries.

Gabriel bent his head down and stole a kiss from my lips. "Let's go to bed. Dumbledore said he would come by with Arthur tomorrow morning to discuss protecting the door. It seems you both will be picking up Podmore's shifts."

"So you knew before you asked that I was taking over the shifts," I snipped as I stood up from the chair. "Why ask then?"

"I wanted you to have the opportunity to tell me," he said while wrapping an arm around me and guiding me out of the kitchen. "Imagine what you would have done to me if I said 'yes, I know already,' when you told me."

He had a point. "Oh, you're right, I would have been furious," I smirked up at him. He bowed his head before mounting the stairs. He held my hand delicately as we walked up the stairs; I followed him with tired feet, almost dragging them up each step.

That night I did not sleep. I was restless and wired, despite being completely exhausted both physically and mentally. I stared blankly at the ceiling as Gabriel slept peacefully next me. It never ceased to amaze me how he was capable of compartmentalizing so many incidents in our life. He was always able to sleep because he didn't allow things to bother him…unlike me; everything bothered me and kept me up at night. Sleep did not come until the early hours of the morning, and despite it finally taking me, it was short.

There was a loud, rather obnoxious, beating sound in the distance that woke me. I opened my eyes and rubbed them to clear my blurred, groggy vision. Sunlight was pouring into the bedroom from the window, falling across the floorboards and bed sheets. I was in bed alone. I pushed the blankets off my body and stood up to look around the room. Gabriel had moved boxes into it while I was sleeping. My trunk was placed at the foot of the bed. I went to it and opened it, looking for something to wear.

Once I was cleaned and dressed in black skinny slacks, a black peasant top, and red opened vest, I went downstairs. In the depths of the house, back in the kitchen, I could hear male voices talking casually. My bare feet beat against the wood paneling of the floorboards as I walked down the hall. When I arrived in the kitchen I was not surprised to see Albus Dumbledore, dressed in forest green robes and Arthur Weasley in a tweed suit sitting at my kitchen table. I was however surprised to see Henry Thrett at the table. He was sitting in the chair farthest from the entrance and wearing a black button-up and jeans. His dark skin looked smooth, and his hair was well kept. When his dark brown eyes fell on me, I felt as though he was imagining me naked. I glared at his stare immediately and turned to look at Gabriel, as if he would provide me comfort; he was standing at the stove, about to bring over a pot of tea.

"Good morning, Cadence," Arthur said in greeting.

"Hello everyone," I said mildly. Gabriel stopped next to me and kissed my cheek gently before making his way to the table. I noticed he had no mugs and went to the box on the counter that was labeled 'cups.' I pulled out five mugs and carried them to the table.

Once we were all sitting at the table with steaming mugs of tea in front of us, the serious conversation began. Mostly, it dealt with Arthur and I taking over Podmore's shifts guarding the entrance into the Department of Mysteries. But, for a moment the conversation took a turn according to Henry Thrett's agenda.

"Are you going to tell us what you suspect Voldemort is after in the department?" Thrett asked causing an awkward silence to fall around the table. Dumbledore's crystal blue eyes peered over his half-moon spectacles at Thrett with a calm demeanor. I would never understand how Dumbledore kept his emotions so in check; hiding them from everyone around him, included those who claimed to know him well. My feelings towards Henry Thrett were quite clear; his mere presences annoyed me, and that was clearly written all over my face.

"I do not think that information is pertinent," Dumbledore replied with complete composure.

"If we know what Voldemort is after, we could remove it from the department."

"You know better then all of us that items are not simply removed from the Department of Mysteries, Thrett," Arthur said with the intent to end the conversation.

"It may be difficult to remove things from the department, but I guarantee you it is possible," Thrett responded with an edgy voice. "I think it would be in our best interest to remove whatever it is from the department without Voldemort knowing. We can keep it safe and hidden, far away from the Ministry, while he keeps trying to break into the department."

"What he is looking for can only be removed by two people," Dumbledore said very softly. "And he has not discovered this yet."

Thrett sat up straight as he looked directly at Dumbledore. "He is looking for a prophecy?" Thrett's face faded to white and his eyes left Dumbledore's intent stare. Suddenly, it seemed Thrett understood what was at stake; I, however, was completely bewildered.

"A prophecy?" I questioned. Dumbledore turned his eyes to me.

"Yes, Cadence," he said. "I am not one-hundred percent certain that is what he is after, but I have a strong feeling it is."

"Why would he need a prophecy? Why would we consider it a weapon?"

"The prophecy is information; something important that he didn't have in the last war. Information, knowledge, could be the most dangerous weapon in our existence. Voldemort needs this peace of information so that he is better prepared for the fight ahead of us."

"What could be so important?"

"I imagine the prophecy has to do with him and Harry," Gabriel said very softly as he glanced at me. I frowned and nodded as I sat back in my chair. I looked around the table at the men surrounding me and decided that I did not want to pursue this conversation anymore in present company. This was something I wanted to discuss with only Dumbledore and Gabriel.

"Thank you," Dumbledore said as he stared at me. "Cadence and Arthur for picking up Podmore's shifts. We have to make sure that the Department of Mysteries is well protected from Voldemort and the Ministry. I must be getting back to Hogwarts."

He stood up from the kitchen table, and Gabriel stood up with him. I remained in my chair, slouched and slightly uncomfortable, as the men stood up and made to exit the kitchen. Thrett moved around the table and stopped next to me. He leaned down, close to my ear, causing my senses to tingle and the hair to stand up on the back of my neck. I looked at him crossly.

"Consider trying to remove the prophecy," he said easily. "You of all people should understand the importance of hiding things from your father, and Dumbledore will listen to your opinion."

"Dumbledore will do what he thinks is best no matter what my opinion is," I retorted as I leaned away from Thrett. He stood up straight with a mild shrug of indifference. He was a very attractive man; but he almost seemed too attractive. It made him appear too perfect and untrustworthy. A man who showed no flaws was not a man to be trusted.

He seemed to know what I was thinking. He smirked with an all knowing look in his dark velvet eyes before he pinched my cheek. I instantly grabbed his hand and stood up from my chair while twisting his arm behind his back. My chair went flying away from me, across the kitchen floor, and made a ruckus as I forced Thrett to turn and shoved him into the kitchen counter; bending him over with his arm bent behind his back about to snap the shoulder out of his socket.

Thrett groaned uncomfortably, but let a gentle laugh escape his lips. The way he looked at me, obviously thinking about me naked and the way he touched me made me sick to my stomach. He obviously didn't understand people's personal boundaries.

"If you ever touch me again, I _will_ break your arm off," I hissed in his ear. I released him and he moved away quickly with a dark look in his eyes. "Understood?" I questioned as I placed my hands on my hips.

"Understood," Thrett said as he looked me over and nursed his twisted arm.

"Cadence?" Gabriel called coming back into the kitchen. Dumbledore and Arthur were following with concerned expressions on their faces. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Thrett responded before I could speak. He turned and made to leave the kitchen. "You've got quite a pistol for a wife, Gabriel. Hope you know how to handle her caliber."

"She doesn't need to be handled," Gabriel said sternly in my defense as Thrett passed him. I smirked slightly while crossing my arms over my chest.

"Good bye, Cadence," Arthur said carefully. "I will see you late tonight to switch shifts."

"Bye Arthur," I replied with a smile to him. "See you."

"Cadence," Dumbledore said as he gave me an all knowing facial expression laced with disappointment. I wasn't going to feel guilty about defending myself to Thrett, no matter the expression Dumbledore gave me with his eyes.

"I'll walk you out," Gabriel said coming forward.

"No need," Dumbledore smiled. "Good day to you both."

Gabriel and I stood still as Dumbledore followed Arthur out of the kitchen. Once we heard the front door shut, Gabriel turned to me with raised eyebrows.

"What exactly is a pistol?"

I laughed lightly and moved to him, hugging him tightly around the waist. He wrapped me in his arms and kissed my forehead while brushing my hair.

"A human weapon," I whispered very softly and sadly. Gabriel tilted my chin up so I could see into his dark purple eyes. He was looking at me with curiosity. "Just makes me think of my father trying to use a prophecy as a weapon."

"Dumbledore seems to think that it will provide him with information he didn't have before," he shrugged while still holding me.

"What kind of information could he need now that he didn't have before?"

"Since it's a prophecy, I would assume that it is something about his and Harry's future," Gabriel said. "Who defeats who, or what is necessary to defeat the other."

I nodded in understanding, but my stomach turned with uneasiness. "Why wouldn't Persephone be able to see something? Why wouldn't Divinity be able to tell him based on what Persephone saw?"

"Premonitions aren't forced like that," Gabriel replied. "Persephone sees what she is supposed to, not what she necessarily wants to."

"Do you think Thrett's idea is valid?"

"Moving the prophecy?" Gabriel questioned. "No. I don't think that's valid. And he should know best that only the people who the prophecy is about can touch it. No one else can."

"Touch it? It's a tangible object?"

Gabriel shrugged. "That's how I've always understood it. And Thrett seemed to reveal that much, especially if he thinks it should be moved?" He paused for a moment as I rested in his arms, contemplating everything he said. "What happened by the way? Why did you pin him to the counter?"

"He pinched my cheek," I said matter-of-factly. Gabriel laughed.

"I'd hate to see what happened if he had pinched your ass," he was still laughing as he spoke. I looked up at him, pulling out of his arms slightly.

"You should know what would happen, I'm sure I've socked you a few times for less things."

"When are you going to learn to play well with others?"

"When are you going to learn that I _don't_ play well with others?" I grinned.

"You seem to play with me just fine."

"Well, that's different Gabriel," I said as I held onto his shirt and stood up on my toes to get closer to his lips. "You have something that I want. There is a benefit to playing well with you."

Gabriel beamed and lowered his head to mine, kissing me delicately on the mouth full on with deep passion. I wrapped my arms tightly around his shoulders and let him hold me as we continued to exchange love with our mouths.

For those few fleeting moments, as we stood in the kitchen, everything was alright despite the chaos that was erupting in the world around us.


	24. Acceptance

"Sirius?"

I called his name quietly as I stood in the foyer of Number Twelve. I honestly didn't expect him to respond, I had just hoped he would be in the sitting room and not in the basement in a drunken stupor because he was trying to drown his sorrow. I unzipped my coat and hung it on the coat rack before moving to the sitting room. The dusty, dark room was empty of any human presence. I turned on my heel and headed for the basement. I doubted Sirius would be upstairs, but that would be the next place I looked if I did not find him in the basement.

As I descended the stairs I heard Sirius' voice cursing loudly, which gave me some relief. He was in the kitchen so I did not have to climb three flights of stairs to make sure he was alive. Also, if he was cursing in such a clear, angry tone, it meant he wasn't drunk enough to be slurring his speech. I hadn't come across London to speak to Sirius while he was drunk and angry.

"Sirius?"

He was kneeling in front of the fire, throwing a pot of water over the dancing green flames. The flames went out instantly, with a hissing sound and smoke rising. I paused at the kitchen table and raised my eyebrows at him in confusion as he stood up. He turned abruptly, pulling his wand and dropping the pot loudly onto the floor with a clank!

"What are you doing?" I asked as I raised my hands in the air.

"What was the last Christmas gift you gave me?"

"The star hanging around your neck," I said calmly. I was prepared for the question despite the fact that I was able to get into the house. I didn't blame Sirius for being thorough and careful. He lowered his wand slowly.

"What are you doing here?"

"If you don't want any company, I will leave," I said sorely.

"Maybe I'm expecting someone."

"Really? You want to play that game?"

"Alright, fine," he hissed as he turned and picked up the pot and threw it across the room into the sink of dirty dishes, which he obviously hadn't done in a few days. I suppose he expected Kreacher, the house elf, to do them.

"Why did you put out the Floo fire?" I asked as I took a seat at the table.

Sirius brought over two bottles of honeyed ail when he came to join me. I thanked him and popped the cap of the beer bottle off on the edge of the table. He was staring at me as I took a long drag on the bottle, thirsty from my walk across town. I relaxed and put the bottle down on the table, it was already half empty.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said with a shake of his head. "I was speaking to Harry, Hermione, Ron and Carrigan in the fire when I felt someone else coming through the network."

"What?" I leaned forward in disbelief.

"I'm not sure who it was," Sirius said casually. "Probably the High Inquisitor herself."

"Sirius, you should be more careful."

"What is with all of you women telling me to be careful? Molly, Hermione, even Carrigan, and now you."

"Forgive us for caring about you and the people you're communicating to."

"Are you suggesting that I'm being irresponsible?" He questioned sharply with a violent glare at me in his dark blue eyes.

"Well, are you?"

"No," he insisted. "I needed to speak to Harry concerning a few matters. We took a risk, obviously, but he needed to speak to me."

"What about?"

Sirius frowned for a moment as he opened his bottle of beer and drank from it. "He and the others have formed a secret group to study Defense Against the Dark Arts together. Dung brought it up last weekend after he followed them to the Hog's Head."

"Why am I just hearing about this now?" I said surprised.

"You haven't been around," Sirius shrugged. "They haven't found a place to hold their secret meetings, since Umbridge created that stupid decree, I was helping them brainstorm."

"I read about the decree," I nodded. "All school organizations and groups have to be approved by her. She must have found out about their meeting in the Hog's Head."

"Either way, they're still going through with it," Sirius said.

"Good," I whispered with a nod.

Despite the consequence of expulsion, I knew it was best for Carrigan, Harry and the others to be studying and helping each other learn how to defend themselves. The Ministry's imposed agenda on Hogwarts was taking away from our children's education, and limiting their ability to defend themselves. Any person in their right mind, whether they believed Voldemort had returned or not, would want their child to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts. My father wasn't the only dark wizard in our history, and he wouldn't be the last; besides, no one (including the Ministry) had a problem with Hogwarts students studying Defense Against the Dark Arts after my father disappeared, why did it matter so much now? It was obviously an attempt for the Ministry to regain control over some of the situation that they were in complete denial of.

"You didn't tell me that Carrigan was with you when you caught Form," Sirius said mildly. I frowned. I had left that detail out of the story when I reported it to the Order of the Phoenix the week after it happened.

"She's fine," I replied.

"Yes," he nodded. "She is. Have you talked to her since?"

"No, why?"

"She's been in detention every night for the last three weeks."

"For what?"

"Disobedience," Sirius said casually. "She's speaking out that I'm innocent, and Voldemort has returned. Umbridge puts her in detention for telling lies and disobedience."

"Well, she's obviously your daughter," I said with a smile.

"My daughter? Obviously yours as well, my dear Cadence."

"She just told you she was in detention?"

"No," Sirius said uncomfortably. "I saw her hands."

"Her hands?" I asked puzzled.

"Umbridge, apparently, has her students write with an enchanted quill when she has them write lines. The quill uses the students blood as ink. As they write their lines, the words are cut into the back of their hand and the blood comes out of the quill. It took a bit to get that much out of Carrigan. She doesn't want us to do anything. She doesn't want Umbridge to think she whined to us."

My skin was on fire. How dare that evil woman touch my daughter with anything, let alone something that was indirectly hurting her like that? I was going to have words with Dumbledore about Umbridge's treatment of my daughter.

"Harry has similar scars," Sirius whispered. "But Carrigan's are far worse. She might get expelled just for being so disobedient."

"Dumbledore wouldn't let that happen," I said with a shake of my head. "He is still in control at Hogwarts, for now."

Sirius shrugged. "I'm not crazy about anyone harming our daughter."

"Me either, but Carrigan can take care of herself and she has never appreciated anyone stepping in to save her, not even me," I said with a small smile. "She's very independent that way."

"As long as she asks for help when she needs it."

"Oh please, she's too stubborn for that," I said with a laugh.

We both fell silent for a moment, allowing me to take another drink of my ail. Sirius was staring at the table, holding the bottle by the neck with his fingertips.

"I was too harsh on her this summer," he said regretfully. "I wasted a chance to be close to her, to love her as a father should love his daughter."

"You can't beat yourself up about what happened in the past," I said wisely. "Just learn from it and don't make the same mistake twice."

"I feel like I've made the same mistake multiple times," Sirius shook his head. "With you and now Carrigan."

"Oh no, you're making all sorts of new mistakes with Carrigan," I said. "But so am I, Sirius."

He nodded his head and gave me a weak smile. "What do you propose we do?"

"Love her," I said with a smile. "Love her the best you can, that's all you can do. She'll understand some day."

"I don't know if that's enough," Sirius said. "I wish we had a normal life, even if we weren't together. I wish that I could have always been there for you and Carrigan, no matter what."

"You can't change the past, Sirius," I whispered sadly.

"Doesn't mean I can't imagine what it would have been like."

I laughed softly. "I'm afraid it would have been worse…we would have been worse."

"Thank you for having faith in us."

"I'm just saying, we ended so poorly, with so much pain," I sighed. "It happened the way it did for a reason. Let's not question that."

Sirius nodded his head and dropped the subject, which I was thankful for.

"You really only came over here to check on me?"

I looked at him with bewildered eyes. "I'm lonely too you know. I did get fired…I'm working at night for the Order, but I never see anyone."

Sirius laughed. "Oh, of course. At least you can do something for the Order."

"Sirius, if you're going to keep singing this sap-song, I am going to leave. You've done plenty for the Order by giving them this place to use—"

"Except they're not using it," he said shortly. "No one else is here."

"We all have to maintain lives so that the Ministry doesn't suspect us," I argued to his point. "The Order is using this house. We still have meetings here."

"You know I belong out there in the thick of things, just like you. I was not meant to be locked up in a cage."

I frowned as he heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry you have to stay hidden. There is still hope in catching Pettigrew, then you would be cleared."

"I don't think there is that much hope," Sirius said sadly with a lame smile. "He is no doubt with your father still."

"I know," I forced a smile. "But there is still always hope."

Sirius didn't seem encouraged by my words. He finished off his beer and stared blankly at the table. "When Carrigan comes home for Christmas, can you all stay here for awhile?"

"If you'd like us to," I nodded.

"I'd just like to see her as much as possible," he responded.

"You're always welcome at our house, Sirius."

"Thank you, but I'm sure Gabriel would say otherwise."

I frowned deeply. "Gabriel respects you and knows that you are still a part of my life. Perhaps you should show him the same courtesy."

"You know I have a hard time playing well with others, especially when I resent them," Sirius said bitterly. I couldn't help but smile at his words. Not playing well with others was something he and I had in common. I tried to ignore the last bit of his comment, but it tore me apart inside.

"You shouldn't resent him."

Sirius frowned and leaned forward. "You have to know I still love you."

There it was. The conversation had gone from comfortable to awkward in less then a minute. My stomach tightened in my stomach, causing me to want to vomit. I didn't know what to say at first. The words seemed so sudden and unexpected. I wasn't sure if I could accept what he was saying to me.

"Doesn't mean you should resent Gabriel," I replied once I got it together. "If you truly loved me you would want me to be happy, no matter what that meant for you."

"Of course," Sirius nodded. "But that doesn't mean I can't resent or be jealous of the man that you chose. The man that also is raising my child with you."

I sighed and brushed my hand through my hair. "Things happen…"

"Yea," Sirius snipped bitterly. "I know they do. I know you and Gabriel would end up together no matter what happened, you two are soul mates and that is fine. I _am_ happy for you. You deserve someone who could give you what I couldn't. It just hurts me that I couldn't give it to you. I'm disappointed in myself. I'm disappointed that I couldn't be a better man for you, or a better father for Carrigan."

"For Merlin's sake, Sirius, you're not dead yet," I retorted. "Sure, maybe you weren't a great man for me, but I wasn't a great woman for you either. And like I said before, be better now. Be what Carrigan needs. Don't try to control and don't put expectations on her. Just love her and let her be."

Sirius smiled as he sat back. "You know, you're a fantastic mother?"

"I'm a terrible mother," I replied. "I'm only good for Carrigan."

Sirius laughed. "That explains why she is your only child."

"It's better that way," I whispered sadly.

"You do want another child?"

"No," I said quickly. "No. It would all be too difficult."

"Doesn't mean you don't want one."

"Now, you sound like Gabriel."

"He's a smart man," Sirius nodded with a smile. I couldn't help but smile as Sirius seemed to have come around. He stood up from the table to pick up our empty beer bottles. "Would you like another?"

"No," I replied with a sigh. "Thank you though, I should be going. I want to lay down before heading to the Ministry."

"How are you getting in?"

"Gabriel is going back in for some papers, I'm sneaking in with him," I said as I stood and stretched. I turned, pushed my chair back in, then moved across the kitchen towards the staircase. I paused for a moment and turned back to look at Sirius.

"What?" he asked.

I strode across the kitchen and embraced him tightly. He hesitated before embracing me in return. His arms wrapped around me tightly, holding me like he used to when we were younger and I still loved him. "Be safe, Sirius," I whispered. "There are people who rely on you."

"Alright," he said softly in my ear. I pulled out of his arms before the embrace became awkward. "You too, especially at the Ministry."

"Thanks," I whispered. "I'll do my best."

I turned on my heel and exited the basement as I reviewed my conversation with Sirius in my head. He seemed happier after our talk; more understanding of his circumstances and more accepting of his life. I hoped that he would keep our conversation in his heart, and not forget what was truly important in our lives now. He did owe Carrigan more then what he had given her so far. I hoped that he would live up to his own hopes of being better for her. He certainly didn't owe me anything. We had burned that bridge already.

As I walked down the streets of London, back towards my new home (that was finally decorated and furnished) snow began to fall. I paused for a moment on the busy sidewalk and looked up at the grey sky. I let the snow flakes hit my cheeks and took in the natural beauty of the world around me. I pretended that no war existed; nothing was wrong with the world or the people in it. Everything was good and would continue to go on, no matter what happened.

My thoughts were violently interrupted when someone else's body slammed into mine. I hurtled forward, caught my balance and turned behind me to see an annoyed man in a business suit moving quickly along. I grumbled and fixed my coat.

"Bastard," I muttered. When I stood up straight, I sighed. The man who had run into me throttled me back to reality; out of my fantasy of peace and goodness. It was time I accepted the reality before me—Voldemort was still alive, there was still a war to be fought, Sirius would probably always love me and have a thorn in his side, Carrigan would always deserve more from Sirius and I, and Gabriel would always be my side. I just needed to accept the reality before me.

When I arrived at home to the brownstone, I was surprised to see Gabriel already home form the Ministry. He wasn't supposed to be home until eight or nine that way he could play off forgetting some paper work as the reason that he was returning so late. I was supposed to follow him in under an enchanted invisibility cloak that Moody had loaned me. If Gabriel was home early, either Dumbledore had changed our plans for the evening and I wasn't going to be guarding the Department of Mysteries, or something was very wrong.

I took off my coat as Gabriel came down the steps into the foyer. He had a stern look on his face, which made my stomach flip with discomfort.

"What is it?" I asked gripping my coat in my hands.

"Henry Thrett is dead," Gabriel said with no hesitation or forewarning. "He was found murdered in his kitchen this morning."

My heart plummeted into my stomach. If Thrett was dead, that meant that Death Eaters were onto us; they were closer to breaking into the Department of Mysteries then we had originally anticipated and they were taking the necessary measure to ensure that we did not stop them. They probably went to Thrett after they failed breaking in with Podmore. If they tried to use Thrett, perhaps he refused, so they killed him. Or even worse, they tortured him for a way to get in and out of the department and killed him when he was no longer useful. I hoped the first theory was the truth…I didn't think I could accept the second option.


	25. Constant Thrett

I was bundled in my leather coat and scarf as I stood on Platform 9 and ¾. I was waiting, like many other parents, for the Hogwarts Express to arrive with Carrigan, Benjamin and Carrigan's friend who would be staying with us over the holiday. Harry and the Weasley's had been sent to Number Twelve just under a week ago, before the Christmas holiday had started, because of Arthur's incident at the Ministry.

While guarding the entrance into the Department of Mysteries, Arthur had been attacked by a giant snake—not that we could say anything to the Ministry, but Dumbledore and I had a good idea that the attack was made by Voldemort's giant python. The Ministry was deeply puzzled by the entire incident; they were starting to question Arthur about his whereabouts and work. Gabriel was afraid that the Ministry may start to catch on that the Order of the Phoenix had reformed.

When the steam engine pulled up to the platform, I was thankful to see Carrigan get off of the train almost instantly. I desperately wanted to get out of the cold.

I waved my gloved hand in the air to catch her eye. I was surprised when a boy got off the train behind Carrigan, then Hermione Granger and lastly Benjamin. I bit my bottom lip as the four teenagers collected their bags and headed towards me. I was not expecting Carrigan to bring a friend who was a boy home. I clenched my gloved hands tightly in my pockets as they approached…Gabriel wasn't going to be very thrilled…

"Mom!" Carrigan called excitedly when she got within earshot. I opened my arms and welcomed her into them when she reached me. I held her tightly while kissing her forehead.

"Aw, I missed you!" I said in her ear. "Hi, Benjamin," I added looking over Carrigan at him.

"Nice to see you, Cadence."

Carrigan pulled out of the embrace and beamed up at me. "I missed you too."

I smiled as my eyes fell on Hermione Granger, who's cheeks were already bright pink from the chilly air.

"Hermione, how are you holding up?"

"Fine," she exhaled with a cold shiver. "Just worried about Mr. Weasley. Have you seen my parents?"

"I have not," I replied. "And Arthur is doing fine. I'm sure you'll all be able to go visit him in no time."

Hermione nodded her thanks, then bid us all good-bye. She had to find her parents quickly so she could talk to them about not going on their holiday ski trip. She wanted to spend the holiday with her friends and the Weasley's.

Once Hermione had made her way, I looked back down at Carrigan, who was still wrapped in my arms. She smiled at me and stepped back to look at the boy standing behind her. He was an attractive young man, with dark hair and eyes. He was taller then me, and from what I could tell, looked to be sixteen or seventeen. He looked vaguely familiar, but I could not place his face. I glanced between him and Carrigan with curious eyes.

"This is Henry," Carrigan said quickly realizing that I was staring at the boy. "My friend who you said could stay with us."

"Nice to meet you Henry," I said extending my hand. He took it and shook it firmly.

"You as well," he said politely. "Thank you for opening your home to me during this time of year."

"Of course," I smiled. "Carrigan explained that your father passed away recently."

"He was murdered," Henry corrected.

"Murdered?"

"By Death Eaters," Henry nodded. He glanced around the crowded platform with anxious eyes as if someone might condemn him for making such an accusation. I, however, believed his words. Obviously, he believed that Voldemort had returned.

"What's your last name?" I questioned carefully. I did not want to offend the boy, but my stomach was jerking with a feeling that I may know who the boy's father was.

"Thrett," he replied. "My name is Henry Thrett."

I frowned slightly as I nodded my head. "I knew your father," I said softly. "I am truly sorry for you lost. He was an asset to our cause."

"Thank you," Henry said dryly.

"Shall we get out of the cold?" Benjamin suggested softly as he peered over his shoulder.

"Yes, let's," I agreed. Carrigan and Henry took the lead, heading for the barrier between platforms nine and ten. I studied Benjamin, who was still taking in his surroundings. "Everything alright?"

"Fine," he nodded. "Just trying to be careful. We're not at Hogwarts anymore."

I nodded and squeezed his elbow. "That's why I like, Benjamin. Come on, let's get to the house."

He picked up his bag and followed me towards the barrier.

Carrigan and I walked into the house with Benjamin and Henry trailing behind us. Henry had Carrigan's bags in hand, which made me smile slightly. Carrigan insisted that there was nothing going on between them, nothing more then friends, but I had to assume something was going on because she had invited him to stay with us over Christmas. I tried not to make it obvious or uncomfortable though. I didn't want to push Carrigan over the edge, especially since these days she was such a touchy bitchy teenage girl. And I wasn't sure how Benjamin felt about Carrigan's new friend. I didn't want to put him in an awkward place.

Carrigan held the door for the boys and closed it behind them. She looked around the foyer of our new home with surprised eyes as she removed her scarf and unbuttoned her coat.

"Mom, this place is beautiful," she said with a smile. I nodded.

"Gabriel picked it out," I replied. "Who would have thought he had such good taste."

"Here," Carrigan said motioning to the stairs as Henry almost put down the bags. "I'll help you get it up stairs."

Benjamin was already up the stairs, leaving Carrigan and Henry in the foyer with me. I followed him with my eyes as he disappeared. He had been on edge since I met them at the station. There was no doubt in my mind that he was not happy with Henry coming home with us.

"The guest room is ready for him. Second door on the right. Benjamin is in the first on the right, you're the only door on the left," I said with a smile as I turned back to Carrigan and pulled my gloves off. Carrigan nodded and mounted the stairs, leading Henry up to the second floor.

I heard a rustling in the kitchen and knew it was Gabriel coming to greet us. I smiled at him when he appeared walking down the hall from the kitchen. My breath caught in my lungs and he smirked, knowing full well what he had just done to me. His dark eyes were beaming as he reached me. His hand touched my neck softly and he leaned down kissing me.

"Safe trip?" he whispered. I nodded and bit my bottom lip as I leaned back from him slightly. His other arm had wrapped around my waist and was holding me against him so there was no escape.

"Carrigan brought a boy home," I whispered as he nuzzled his nose against mine and stole a kiss from me. He stepped back with sharp eyes and looked up the staircase.

"Really?" he questioned.

"He's sixteen," I continued in my whisper. This made Gabriel's eyes flash even more, then he looked back at me, still glaring.

"She's thirteen—"

I put my hand to his lips. "They're not dating," I said. "Carrigan insist they're just friends."

"Then why'd she bring him home for Christmas?"

"Because he doesn't have any family," I shrugged stepping away and removing my cloak. I looked at Gabriel with very serious eyes, and he was glaring up the stairs as if trying to see if Henry was making moves on Carrigan in the bedroom. "I told you to warn you."

"Why?" he said looking at me with raised eyebrows. I laughed and shook my head as I threw my cloak on the coat rack.

"You know very well why," I smiled. "Don't do anything rash, Gabriel."

"Rash?" he repeated scandalized. "Cadence, your daughter is upstairs with a sixteen year old boy in her bedroom—"

"No she's not," Carrigan yelled down from the top of the stairs. I smirked slightly and put my hands on my hips as Gabriel frowned and rubbed his face, sighing lightly. "Gabe!" Her voice said his name with happiness, despite her smart-ass crack at the top of the stairs. She had missed Gabriel, I knew she had.

Gabriel turned to the stairs and smiled with pleasure as Carrigan stood there. She jumped off the last step and into his arms. He spun her around as she clung to him, and then placed her on the ground on her feet. He stroked her hair behind her ear and looked at her very seriously.

"Carri," he said softly, still smiling, but having a stern look in his eyes. Carrigan sighed slightly before he could continue.

"Just stop right now," she said raising her hand. "He's not my boyfriend." She quivered slightly and rolled her eyes.

"He's a sixteen year old boy," said Gabriel standing up straight. "I was one—"

"Yes, yes, I know," Carrigan interrupted. "You were one once. Just because you'd play a girl doesn't mean Henry would. It's not like he's your son or something."

Gabriel rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'd rather he was, because no son of mine would be putting the moves on you—"

"Thanks," Carrigan said bitterly.

Before another word could be said someone could be heard coming down the stairs. Henry's entrance stopped the conversation between Gabriel and Carrigan from carrying on. He smiled politely with his chocolate brown eyes and entered the foyer.

"Hello," he said with his hands in his pockets. "You must be Gabriel, it's a pleasure. Carri speaks very highly of you."

"Well I am her Godfather," Gabriel said with a forced smile as he extended his hand to Henry. The teenager took it and shook it firmly surprising Gabriel. "Now her Father, well that is a man you'd want to watch out for."

"Gabriel," I said hitting his shoulder with a laugh as I walked by heading for the kitchen. "Come on, Gabriel had some tea on the stove."

"I did," Gabriel nodded as he followed me.

"I would like to meet Sirius Black," Henry said with a nod.

I glanced at Carrigan as we entered the kitchen. She gave me a guilty look. Obviously, she had informed Henry that she believed Sirius to be innocent. I wondered how much information she had told him.

"We are going to see Sirius over the holiday," I said as I collected the tea mugs from the cabinet over the stove. I refrained from saying that we would be staying at Number Twelve for part of the holiday. We didn't know how much we could trust Henry just yet. I looked at Gabriel and nodded to the tea pot. He sighed and came to me, picking up the tea pot and following me to the table with it. I set down the mugs so Gabriel could pour the tea.

"I don't think you meeting my Father is a good idea."

"I agree with Carrigan," Gabriel said softly as we all sat down. "Considering where Sirius is staying."

"Are you suggesting you don't trust Henry?" questioned Carrigan sounding offended.

"I will never trust any man dating you," Gabriel responded.

"Good thing we're not dating," Carrigan retorted.

"Gabriel was simply suggesting that we can't trust anyone in regards to where your Father is staying," I interjected quickly before Gabriel could snap back at Carrigan. "It's nothing personal, Henry."

"I didn't think it was," Henry smiled. "I understand your caution, and I appreciate your doubt. It means you care about Carrigan a great deal."

This caught Gabriel's attention. He immediately looked away from Carrigan and to Henry. "What are your intentions?"

"Gabriel!" Carrigan clapped her head with her hand in embarrassment.

"Carrigan and I are very good friends," Henry responded with a smile. "She and I have a great deal in common—one of them being that one of our parents were not present as we grew up."

"Why aren't you staying with your family?" Gabriel asked with a slow nod.

"My Mother died when I was young," Henry replied in a low whisper. "And I just recently lost my Father, Henry Thrett."

Gabriel frowned slightly. "I am very sorry for you loss," he said easily.

"I think that's enough conversation," Carrigan said standing up. "Come on, Henry, let's get you settled."

Henry smiled at her and nodded as he stood up. He pushed his chair in and followed Carrigan out of the kitchen while thanking us for the tea. I crossed my arms over my chest as I leaned back in my chair, giving Gabriel a dark glare. He looked at me with distress and when he saw my glare he rolled his eyes.

"What?" he questioned.

"You're not part of the inquisition, you know." I said easily.

"Well one of us should be—I don't like it."

"It's a good thing that while your opinion matters, I have the final say in my house and with my daughter."

"_Our_ house," he corrected. "You mean to tell me you're perfectly okay with that boy sleeping in the same bedroom as Carrigan?" questioned Gabriel with heated eyes.

"I'm sure he can stay in the study—or the guest room," I said with sarcasm. "That is why we have it after all."

"You're Mother obviously had no restrictions on you," Gabriel said rolling his eyes.

"Someone killed her when I was fifteen," I snipped kicking his seat before I stood up. "She didn't have time to put any restrictions on me. Besides—I'd blame my openness and leniency with Carrigan on my daddy-issues. Perhaps if I had a Father like you I wouldn't be so liberal about Carrigan's relationships."

I made to walk by Gabriel but he grabbed the belt loops of my pants and pulled me against his chair. "If you had a Father like me we would have never ended up together."

His hands were running up and down my body—up my thighs, across my back and torso. He leaned his head forward and kissed my stomach before pushing my shirt up with his fingertips. He kissed my stomach gently, with slow tender lips. I felt his tongue on my flesh and sighed as he grazed against the skin just above the waist band of my pants. I ran my hands on his shaved head then tilted his head up. I bent down and kissed him deeply.

"How can you blame me for being okay with Carrigan having a boy in her room when we were involved when I was fifteen?"

"We weren't involved," Gabriel whispered in my ear as he kissed my neck. His hands were still on my legs; his touch sending jolts of heat and desire through my entire body. "You were just a tease."

"It's sad you fell in love with a tease," I said standing up straight. Gabriel didn't let me get away though. He held me tightly and stood up to press his body against mine. I smiled up at him as I placed my hands on his shoulders. He was staring down at me with smiling purple eyes which made my head spin and my heart skip a beat.

"It is a shame," he agreed. He leaned down and kissed me deeply.

"You'd better get to work," I whispered.

Gabriel stood up straight with raised eyebrows and nodded his head slowly once he realized I was talking about going to work for the Order. He was on watch that night to make up for Arthur's shift.

"Yep," Gabriel agreed. "Need to do some stuff at the office before the real work begins."

I smirked and stole a kiss from him. As I pulled out of his arms and cleared the table of the used dishes I caught Gabriel's eyes looking up at the kitchen ceiling as if he could see through it and was spying on Carrigan.

"Would you please relax?" I snipped as I walked by him with my arms full of dishes.

"I don't trust him—he's a sixteen year old boy! I know what's on his mind."

"Would a sixteen year old boy really be thinking stuff like that about a thirteen year old girl?" I asked with a shiver. "Isn't that kind of gross?"

"Carrigan doesn't look like she's thirteen," Gabriel responded. "Nor does she act like it—and that's the difference. Age doesn't matter, perception does. And I'm sure that any sixteen year old boy perceives Carrigan as fifteen or sixteen. I don't like it…don't trust it…" Gabriel said the last part while shaking his head.

"If you don't trust him, trust Carrigan."

"He could manipulate or persuade her into saying yes to anything," Gabriel retorted defensively.

"When have you ever known Carrigan to give into anyone and do something she didn't want to do? Look how long it took you to persuade me…"

"That's different," he shook his head.

"Not really," I said. "I was fifteen when you came onto me and you were _twenty five_."

"You wanted me to."

"Maybe Carrigan wants Henry too," I said looking up at Gabriel with a cross expression. Gabriel's face fell and he slapped his forehead.

"Why would you say something like that?"

"Will you please relax and let it be?" I begged taking his hands off his head and holding them tightly in mine.

"Alright," he sighed.

"Really?"

"As best as I can," he admitted. I smiled and stood on my toes to kiss him.

"Thank you."

He nodded and kissed me again before pulling away. "I'll be home in the morning."

"How early?"

"Five probably."

"Oh, that's late," I sighed. I grabbed his collar before he could get away. "Be safe."

"My dear Cadence, I think this is the most affection you've ever given to me."

"I'm afraid you're going to die. Will you please be safe?"

"Of course," he beamed pinching my cheek. He disappeared out of the kitchen before another word could be said. A small hole formed in my heart simply because he didn't say he loved me. It wasn't that I had doubt; I was actually quite confident that Gabriel loved me. His feelings for me were the only constant thing in my life since I was fifteen—perhaps with the exception of the danger I was in because of my Father—if I couldn't trust anything else I could trust that Gabriel loved me and my Father was out to kill me. I was just afraid that if something happened to Gabriel tonight while he guarded the entrance to the Department of Mysteries that this moment in the kitchen might be the last time I see him. This might be the last time I have the chance to say anything to him.

I frowned deeply and moved quickly through the kitchen to the front hall. Gabriel was standing there pulling on his cloak. He looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"Cadence?"

I stepped close to him and touched his shoulders before standing on my toes and kissing him straight on the mouth. He kissed me in return but pulled away slowly looking at me with concern.

"What's the matter?"

"I love you," I replied.

He smiled slightly. "That's what's bothering you?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"Well I'm sorry you're so troubled," he joked stroking my cheek. "But I love you too."

I beamed and released him. "You're allowed to leave now," I said. Gabriel laughed whole heartedly before opening the front door.

"I'll see you in the morning."

"Alright," I said leaning against the door. I held the knob in my hand and watched as he walked out of the house heading down the porch steps and the front gate.

"Mom?" Carrigan's voice called. I turned and saw her standing at the bottom of the stairs with her hand on the banister. I closed the door before turning to look at her.

"Yes?" I said crossing my arms. I smiled at her as I took in her appearance. She was wearing yoga pants, a pullover and sneakers. Her hair was pulled back with a thick headband that covered her ears. "Going running?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Benjamin is coming with me. We'll be back in time for dinner. Henry laid down in the guest room to take a nap."

"Are you going to tell me what's going on with Henry?" I asked carefully.

Carrigan bit her lip and rolled her eyes. "Mom," she sighed.

"I just want to know what he's all about—where did he come from? How'd you meet?"

Carrigan stepped down onto the landing next to me with curious studying eyes. "Are you asking or is Gabriel?"

"I am," I said frankly. Carrigan frowned deeply as she crossed her arms over her chest. She knew she couldn't keep much from me simply because I was her Mother—eventually she would tell me, I was just really hoping she would spill now because I was asking. I wasn't in the mood for any surprises.

"He's in Ravenclaw," she replied with a sore tone. "We met on the Quidditch field while I was watching the team practice with Ginny and Hermione. Henry is on the Ravenclaw team, he was coming out to see if the field was available. We started talking…."

"His father was a member of the Order," I whispered softly and I tapped my fingers against my lips with deep thought. It seemed like a coincidence that Henry Thrett's son should become close friends with Carrigan and then come to stay in my home shortly after his father had died. But I didn't believe in coincidences.

"So, we can trust Henry then."

"Just because someone's parent was for our cause doesn't mean they are," I advised as I thought of Bartemius Crouch and his son Barty Crouch Jr. "Besides, he's underage."

Benjamin appeared in his running clothes behind Carrigan who still stood on the stairs. "Ready?" he questioned with a smile. He looked happier then I had seen him all afternoon. It was obvious to me that he did not like Henry being around Carrigan at all, but I wasn't sure if it was because he didn't trust Henry or he was jealous of him.

Carrigan gave Benjamin an awkward look as she peered up at him. He clapped his hands together and raised his eyebrows at her. "What?"

"You're intolerable," she said slickly. She stepped forward to the door and pulled it open before bidding me good bye. Benjamin frowned as he walked by me, giving me a shrug. I caught his elbow before he walked out.

"Avoid side streets," I whispered. "Stay on the main roads and don't be gone longer then a half hour. Do you have your wand?"

"And a knife," he replied with a reassuring nod. His crystal blue eyes looked seriously at me with stern reassurance that all would be fine.

"Thank you."

He bowed his head and stepped down the steps to Carrigan who was waiting for him on the walkway in front of the brownstone. She gave Benjamin a curious look before he patted her shoulder and they took off down the sidewalk away from the house.

I stepped back in the house and closed the door tightly. Once the cold air was shut out of the house, I turned to look up the staircase, wondering if Henry Thrett was lying dying or not. I bit my bottom lip with apprehension. It all seemed too perfect; him being here now after his father's death. Finding someone to be close to Carrigan was a perfect strategy for my father. I pivoted and made my way into the kitchen to look for the basket of scrap paper that Gabriel kept by the back door. When I found it, I scribbled a note on it and turned to make my way upstairs into the study where Gabriel's owl was sitting on her perch.

"Take it to Gabriel," I whispered once the note was attached to her leg. I opened the window and let her sail out of it. With a quick snap, I closed the window, then leaned against the sill deep in thought. Perhaps the fact that he was sixteen and Carrigan brought him home was not reason to mistrust Henry Thrett. Perhaps, there was a much scarier reason not to trust him.


	26. Exhausting

The study in our new home was too big for the furniture and books I owned. I always thought I had too much stuff until we moved into the brownstone. Three of the four walls were lined with built in shelves, and the fourth wall was mostly made of windows. The shelves were barely full; I had sorted the books into fictional and magical collections. The fictional stories was a much smaller collection and took up two shelves on the north wall of the study; while the magical collection took up the entire south wall. I had set the desk in front of the windows and turned it to face out into the room. The leather couch and chair sat towards the center of the room, on the small area rug I owned. I needed to get (or conjure) a bigger rug, spread the furniture out and maybe get a two more arm chairs and some end tables for the room to look complete.

I was sitting at the desk with the oil lamp burning steadily next to me while I wrote a letter to Sirius explaining why Carrigan and I wouldn't be able to come stay with him for the holiday. I had sent a short letter to him earlier in the day, which he surprisingly responded to right away with an angry inquisitive letter. What could possibly stop us from coming? Everyone was at Number Twelve because of Arthur's accident, and we should be there too.

Just as I signed my name to the bottom of the page, there was a knock at the door and then it opened. Carrigan stepped in with a slight frown on her face.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Dad is here," she said.

"You're not happy to see me?" Sirius Black questioned as he entered the room from behind Carrigan. He looked handsome in blue jeans, black button up, deep purple vest and charcoal grey cloak. His hair was well kept and neat, but long and hanging in front of his eyes. He had shaved recently, so there was only a light five o'clock shadow on his face. He looked charming as he stood next to his daughter, who despite what so many people said, did have some of his physical qualities. Obviously, they shared the same eyes, but Carrigan also had Sirius' high cheek bones and well shaped chin.

Sirius pinched his daughter's cheek affectionately, which prompted her to smile up at him.

"It's not that," she said. "I am happy to see you, but whenever you two are around each other you fight. I don't want to hear you fight anymore, it's exhausting."

"We think it is too," I said softly as I remained in my chair at the desk. "We're trying to be better at that, Carrigan."

"Alright," she nodded. She stood on her toes and kissed her father's cheek softly before leaving the room. Once the door was shut, Sirius turned to me with an aggravated expression. My heart dropped. Apparently, we _were_ going to fight today.

"You got here fast," I said softly. "I just sent a reply letter."

"I realized shortly after I had sent my response that it would probably just be better to come over," he said as he moved across the room. He didn't look at his surroundings, only kept his navy blue eyes on me. My heart skipped a beat as he stared at me in that manner. It was normal for Sirius to look at me with lustful eyes, but there was something about the aggressiveness in his expression that made me catch my breath. He hadn't had an effect on me like that in years, but there we were, in my study and he was making me melt.

"Did you meet Henry downstairs?"

"Yes," Sirius nodded as he pulled the leather arm chair across the floor to my desk. I frowned as he carelessly scratched the legs of the chair across the wooden floor, leaving slight indents to the newly laid panels. He took a seat in front of me, indifferent of the scars he just made on my floor, and folded his arms. "He seems like a nice kid."

"Gabriel is afraid that he's trying to seduce Carrigan," I said with a faint smile.

"The thought crossed my mind," Sirius shrugged. "But I'm more worried about Benjamin who rolls around with Carrigan while they're training."

"Benjamin informed me that there isn't much training going on," I said as if that would ease Sirius' mind. "Mostly because Carrigan skips or shows up late because she was with Henry."

The last comment did not ease Sirius' mind at all. He frowned deeply in response and sat up straight in his chair. "She needs to be training, as you've constantly said. Have you discussed it with her?"

"Not yet. She doesn't know that Benjamin told me."

"When did he tell you?"

"Just after they came home from their jog today," I said. "She went to shower and he came to update me. He said that she was progressing, getting better control specifically of her telepathic abilities, until she met Henry. Then she started to regress again. He said, this is why he thinks that she should be home-schooled and not return to Hogwarts."

Sirius nodded his head slowly. "But school and her social life keep her sane."

"Not much point of being sane if she ends up killing herself and others because she can't control her physical powers."

"I will talk to her," Sirius whispered. "Perhaps coming from me it might be better received. If you or Gabriel talk to her she'll put up her defenses."

I frowned, but Sirius had a point. Gabriel and I harped on Carrigan's training so much that she would get defensive the first time we mentioned it. "I still don't understand why she changed so suddenly. I remember when she was ten and she begged me to teach her Legilimency. She wanted to learn everything I did so badly."

"She was little and wanted to be just like you. She is thinking for herself now," Sirius said. "She is finding out who she wants to be, and apparently she doesn't want to be powerful."

"But really, Sirius, she is taking the same path as I did. I never completed my training," I advised. "Perhaps that is something you should remind her. If she is so set on being different then me then she should remember that."

"I just want her to be happy," Sirius smiled. "I know you do too."

I nodded. "But Carrigan's training isn't why you came over here, Sirius," I smiled.

Sirius smiled, recognizing my transition into the true conversation he wished to have. He nodded his head before running his fingers over his chin and scratching under his jaw line.

"I think you should still come and stay at Number Twelve. Have you spoken to Dumbledore about Henry to see what he knows about him?"

"I have not yet," I replied. "It is rather late, I didn't want to send him a letter till the morning."

"Have you talked to Henry at all to see what his father told him about the Order?"

I frowned. I hadn't thought of that. I was so worried that Henry could be a spy for my father, I didn't think to ask him if he knew anything already. But what if by asking him I let on to more information? Was I really becoming that paranoid?

"I have not," I admitted.

"Well, perhaps we should call him and Carrigan in here," Sirius said standing up.

"How did he take you being a wanted murderer?"

"He didn't at first," Sirius said honestly. "But Carrigan said that I am innocent and either he believes it or not. If he believes it then he also, by deduction, believes that Voldemort has returned, which given the circumstances of his father's death it seems that he does. She also added that he could stay if he believed it, or leave if he didn't, it was his choice."

I smiled. "You don't have to go down to get her," I said. Sirius looked at me perplexed, which caused me to smile more mysteriously at him.

_Carrigan, please come upstairs to the study with Henry._

It was easy to find her in the house with Legilimency because she was so close. She seemed to be expecting my call.

_I was wondering when you'd want to see us._

Within a moment the door to the study opened and Carrigan entered, followed by Henry who shut the door behind him. Carrigan had changed her clothing since she last entered the room with Sirius. She was now wearing tight black yoga pants and a red pull over sweatshirt. I assumed she was getting ready for bed. Henry was still dressed in his travel clothing; jeans and a grey sweater. He looked young, but handsome and charming. When they first entered the room he didn't take his eyes off of Carrigan, but he quickly reverted them and looked at Sirius with hesitation and distrust.

Sirius was giving Henry a stern glare; the type of glare that says 'keep your eyes on me and off of my daughter.' It surprised me how fatherly Sirius looked as he peered at Henry and Carrigan standing in front of the study door. Carrigan saw Sirius' stare and looked up at Henry. She sighed loudly and turned to close the door sharply. When it snapped shut, Sirius broke the glare he was giving Henry. He relaxed in his chair and turned to face me. Henry's expression immediately relaxed. His muscle were no longer tense and his eyes did not shine with intimidation.

"What's going on?" Carrigan asked as she came forward to lean against my desk.

"Your mother and I have some questions for Henry," Sirius said as he looked to his daughter. Henry moved forward and stood on the opposite side of the desk as Carrigan, to my left.

"Yes, sir?" Henry addressed Sirius with politeness.

"Henry, why do you think Death Eaters killed your father?"

When I asked the question, Henry redirected his attention to me. He folded his hands behind his back and looked at the top of the desk before looking me in the eye.

"Because I know he was active against Voldemort's return."

"Why do you believe that Voldemort has returned?" Sirius asked. Henry looked at him, slightly offended. Sirius had not asked the question delicately. He was very blunt with his words.

"I was raised on the fact that he would return someday," he replied.

The answer did not seem to satisfy Sirius, but he nodded his head in acknowledgement. I was studying Henry as he responded to Sirius and my questions. I was looking for a sign of betrayal or lies in his eyes. But Henry was relaxed and posed. He seemed to be expecting such questions, which only made me worry a little more. Perhaps I really was becoming too paranoid…

"Were you aware of your father's affiliation to groups outside of the Ministry of Magic?" I asked the question that we really needed to know the answer to.

"If you are referring to the Order of the Phoenix, then yes, I am aware of his involvement in an organization outside of the Ministry of Magic that seeks to stop Voldemort."

I gave Henry a very serious look as I peered at him with intense green eyes. He met my stare and returned it straight on. He didn't look away or break.

"I am also aware," Henry continued. "That he was probably killed by Death Eaters because of whatever he was doing for the Order."

"He wasn't doing anything specific for the Order," Sirius said before I could respond. "We don't know why he was targeted."

"But you have your suspicions?" Carrigan asked softly.

"Of course," I replied. Both Carrigan and Henry were looking at me with eager eyes. They wanted to hear our theories for motive of Thrett's murder. "We assume that he was killed for his knowledge of the Department of Mysterious, where he worked in the Ministry."

"Why?" Henry asked.

"Because Voldemort is trying to steal something out of the department," Sirius said. "At least, that's what we think."

"But you two should keep that information to yourselves," I advised quickly. I was not going to tell Henry or Carrigan why we thought Voldemort wanted information about the Department of Mysterious, but since Sirius had said it already, I wanted to make it clear that it was not something that should be shared. "And when I say 'should,' I mean that you _will_ keep that information to yourselves. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Henry and Carrigan said at the same time.

"Alright," I bowed my head. "We will be going to Number Twelve tomorrow, make sure that your bags are packed to stay there over holiday."

Carrigan smiled and nodded. "Come on, Henry." She motioned to the door and he smiled.

"Good night," he said politely before following Carrigan out of the room.

Sirius watched the two teenagers exit the room. Once the door was shut, he looked at me with mild surprise on his face.

"You made up your mind that easily?"

"Well, since you told him more then Harry knows, it's hard to say no now," I replied with irritation as I stood up. "Good night, Sirius. I will see you tomorrow. I trust you can show yourself out."

I left the study before he could retort to my comments. I did not want to fight with him. Like Carrigan had said, it was exhausting.


	27. At the Brownstone

Snow fell down, riding gusts of wind, as I marched up the steps to my brownstone. With the wind billowing at my back, I clutched my collar close around my neck and tucked my gloved hand into my pocket. I pulled my wand out and tapped it against the doorknob as the January breeze tickled the back of my neck. Shivering, I let myself into the house once I had unlocked the door with my magic.

Despite locking the cold weather outside once I closed the door, I was still cold inside the foyer of the brownstone. I looked around the dark interior of my home and frowned deeply. Gabriel was on watch that evening. He wouldn't be home until the morning.

I had just finished returning Carrigan, Benjamin, Henry, Harry and their peers to Hogwarts. Remus, Tonks and I had escorted them via the Knight Bus back to Hogsmeade, where we stood at the gate of Hogwarts and watched them all return to the castle. It was not an easy trip, let alone an easy holiday. Staying at Number Twelve had been the hardest decision to make and I still wasn't sure, despite it being after the fact, if it had been right the one.

Of course, I was happy that Carrigan got to spend the holiday with her friends and father; and that I got to spend the holiday with both Carrigan and Harry, but I was anxious to trust Henry Thrett. Ever since Penelope Talon had betrayed me last year, I was terrified to let anyone, even a teenager, into our world of secrets. In our world, if the right secret was revealed to the wrong person, people would die.

Dumbledore had put faith in Henry, but it was Snape who delivered that message to me when he came to Number Twelve to speak to Harry about his Occlumency lessons. Dumbledore wanted me to know that he trusted Henry because he had trusted his father. I was not so quick to trust though, even if Dumbledore was.

The holiday had not ended very well, with Sirius and I getting into arguments over Carrigan's training and Harry's Occlumency lessons. Carrigan was still regressing in her training and Sirius didn't seem to understand that he couldn't force her to participate and get better. It was something she had to want. She had to have the motivation to get better, no one could force her. Sirius then began to blame Benjamin for Carrigan's regression. Until he came along, he argued, Carrigan had been doing fine. But she hadn't. He wasn't around enough to know how she had been doing with her physical powers before Benjamin showed up. Of course, that statement lead into a whole other argument that has been argued so many times it isn't worth mention anymore.

Sirius was also furious that Harry had to take lessons from Snape instead of Dumbledore, me or even Gabriel. He seemed to calm down when Dumbledore explained that it would alert Dolores Umbridge if Gabriel or I were to make constant trips out to Hogwarts to help Harry with his mental lessons, especially when they were meant to be kept secret. Dumbledore was also afraid that if he were around Harry too often it would trigger responses from Voldemort that would alert him to the connection he shared with Harry.

I released a long sigh of exhaustion in the foyer as I removed my coat. It was nice to be home, but I desperately wanted to see Gabriel. He hadn't stayed at Number Twelve very much over the holiday. He had been working on assignments for Dumbledore and took up guarding the Department of Mysteries for everyone so they could have a happy Christmas. It didn't bother me that Gabriel hadn't been there to celebrate the holiday. I understood that he was protecting something that in the future could save us all; essentially, he was making sure that it would be possible for everyone to have future holidays with their families.

I hung my coat on the rack and slowly made my way down the hall to the kitchen, where I lit a candle. I began to boil a kettle of water to make some tea in hopes that it would help warm my bones that were still shivering with chills from the cold. I turned to lean against the counter as I waited for the water to boil.

When I peered across the shadowy kitchen, my heart plummeted into my stomach. My eyes fell on a dark figure in the far corner of the room, just far enough away to still be shielded by darkness, but revealed by the burning red eyes that stared back at me. My hand reached to my side, but in vain. I had left my wand in my coat pocket which was now hanging on the coat rack at the front of the house.

I exhaled with disappointment as Voldemort slide forward into the faint candle light that stretched to the kitchen table less then twenty feet away from me. He looked no different then he had eight months ago when he had returned; the last time I had seen him. His pale, almost transparent, white skin was pulled tightly over his bones making him look like a skeleton that reflected the candle light as it danced on his flesh. His red snake eyes didn't blink as he advanced towards me; and his smile, evil and thin, curved like a spider's. He had caught his prey easily this time, and he was going to enjoy killing me.

"How did you find this place?"

"A father can always find his daughter, Kieran," he responded in his high-pitched voice that remind me of chalk screeching across a board.

There was no warning. He lunged forward, extending his boney arm forward over the counter top, and brandished his wand in my direction.

"_Crucio!"_

I had no time to duck, let alone fight back. My wand was in my coat in the front of the house; there was no time to conjure a weapon. The spell hit me too fast. I was knocked off my feet to the floor as the water in the kettle began to boil. I screamed in agony and thrashed around the floor as if I was being poked and prodded with an electric charge. My body surged as the force caused my bones to quake and grind against each other. My teeth chattered, eyes rolled back in my head, muscles spasm—and then it stopped.

Bells rang in my eyes and my vision was blurred. My body shook as the Cruciatus Curse lingered in me making my body shiver and twitch. I rolled my head to the side to see Voldemort approaching me.

He crotched down close by my side before reaching out his pale white hand to me. His icy cold fingertips touched my cheek delicately, like a lover would have extended his hand to me. I frowned as I blinked up at him; trying to clear my vision so I could glare at him more fiercely.

"Good bye my daughter," he hissed, like the snake he was, in my ear. His fingers continued to stroke my cheek. I closed my eyes, preparing myself for what was about to come. There was a flashing green light—I jolted straight up off the kitchen floor with a gasping scream—

"Mom!"

Carrigan jumped back from the bed when I hurtled forward. I turned to lean over the side of the bed and vomited profusely on the wooden floor of the bedroom. I felt Carrigan's small hands pulling my hair back as I leaned over the bedside, tears welling in my eyes from the pain of sick being forced back up and out of my throat.

"It was one of those dreams, again, wasn't it?" Carrigan asked weakly.

I didn't say anything as I sat up on the bed, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I didn't look at her right away, but I could feel her midnight blue eyes on me, studying me and taking in my vulnerability.

"I'm going to write to Gabriel," she said as she moved away from the edge of the bed.

"No!" I grabbed her wrist tightly in my hand before she could get away. "No. I'm fine. Hand me my wand."

She raised her eyebrows high at me while reaching for my wand that sat on the bedside table. Once I had it, I waved it at the puddle of sick on the floor. When it was cleaned, Carrigan took a seat on the edge of the bed. I realized as I looked at her that she was dressed to travel.

She wore jeans and black combat boots that laced up to the middle of her shins. She had on a black leather poncho cloak that Sirius had given her for Christmas. It had been his when he was much younger. He thought she might like it because of the leather and style. Of course, she had loved it.

"What time is it?"

"Nine," she replied. "We're ready to leave for school."

"You haven't left yet?" I questioned confused as I rubbed my head.

"No," Carrigan replied very slowly as she studied me with worried eyes. "We're leaving now. Dad told me to come wake you so you could be part of the guard to Hogwarts."

I nodded my head to acknowledge her statement as I rubbed the back of my neck. It had all been a dream. Carrigan was still safe at Number Twelve. Voldemort was not waiting for me in my kitchen, and if he was…now I would be ready for him.

"Mom, are you sure you're okay? I can tell Remus you're not coming with us. We will be fine."

"I'm fine," I replied with a sharp look at her. "I will be down in a moment. I just need to change and freshen up."

Carrigan shrugged and stood up from the bed. "Very well."

I watched as my twelve year old moved out of the bedroom. I frowned as she walked away from me, she looked older then twelve. The way she dressed and carried herself suggested that she was older then she really was. Carrigan had grown up fast and I wasn't quite sure when it had happened. But, at the same time, she was also still immature about some things, like her training.

I tried not to dwell on the perceptive age of my daughter. I got out of the bed and began to dress. My hands were shaking as I put on new clothing to travel in. The dream had shaken me up roughly. I hadn't dreamt about my father killing me in weeks, the sudden return of the reoccurring dream bothered me.

When I arrived downstairs, Sirius was the only one standing in the foyer. He looked at me with mild relief.

"They're all outside already, loading the bus," he said pulling me into a hug, which caught me off guard. "Be safe, Cadence."

"Of course, Sirius," I replied as I pulled back. "We'll all be fine."

"I know I don't have much time, but Carrigan said that you were having a nightmare—"

"You're right, we don't have much time," I said sharply. "I am fine. I will see you later."

I pulled away from him as his eyes gave me a stern, rather perturbed, look. His expression surprised me. When we were together, I always thought Sirius didn't know me well, but as he stared at me in the foyer of Number Twelve, he had an all-knowing expression. I sighed and tapped his chest gently with my hand. He caught it with his and kissed my fingers delicately.

"I'm here if you need me," he said seriously with a tenderness that reminded me of our past. I squeezed his hands before pulling away completely and making my way to the front door. He lingered behind me, watching me as I left the house, and joined the children on the street. Tonks was standing on the curb in front of a double-decker purple bus. She was helping Ginny with her bags.

"Let's move along," she said quickly. "The quicker we're on the bus, the better."

"Hello Tonks," I said calmly as I looked at Harry, Carrigan, Hermione and Henry who were still standing on the street.

"Hiya Cadence," Tonks said with a frail smile on her heart-shaped face. Her hair was short, spiked and purple today. Her cheeks were rosy pink from the frigid air that was delicately blowing against us. "Remus is already on board with the others. Should be a fast trip."

"Should be," I agreed with a nod.

Once all the children were on the bus and Tonks and I had loaded, we set off for Hogsmeade. The ride on the Knight Bus was brutal with constant sudden stops and fast speeds. I felt a little sick most of the trip as I clung to the armchair I was sitting in.

About half way through the trip, Harry stood up from his chair at the back of the bus and came to sit next to me. He pulled another chair up next to mine just in time to sit down in it before the bus driver slammed on the brakes and we all slid forward slightly in our chairs. If Harry hadn't sat down, he would have gone flying forward over the twin bed that I was resting my feet on.

"Hello, Harry," I said with a weak smile.

"Are you alright?"

I looked up at him and nodded my head. "Are you?"

Harry frowned as he shifted in his seat. "I'm worried," he said slowly.

"About?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Sirius."

I nodded my head with understanding. Everyone was worried about Sirius in some capacity. All of the Order was worried that he would lose it and bust out into the world to do something reckless that would put his life and those of everyone in the Order at risk.

"He gave me this," Harry said pulling a small package, wrapped hastily in clothe and ribbon, out of his pocket. "I haven't opened it yet, but he said it was a way for him to communicate with me if I needed it."

I nodded to encourage Harry to continue. "But I don't want to use it. What if he gets caught because he's trying to contact me?"

"Harry, you have to remember that above all else Sirius is an adult," I replied calmly. "He is an active and energetic man. He will do what he wants, no matter who tells him otherwise."

"I always thought Carri got her stubbornness from you."

I laughed lightly. "Unfortunately, it's a character flaw that both Sirius and I carry. Carrigan is far more stubborn then us."

Harry smiled weakly as he glanced at Carrigan, who was sitting next to Henry.

"What's the matter?"

"It's just something Hermione said," Harry said with an edge as he glanced at me with nervous eyes.

"About Henry?"

Harry nodded. He turned to face me directly and whispered, "Hermione said a guy his age would only hang around a girl Carrigan's age for one reason…" Harry's voice trailed off for a moment as he glanced over his shoulder discretely towards Carrigan. When he looked back at me, he frowned deeply. "Never mind, I don't think Hermione's right anyways…"

I smiled lightly. I imagined that Hermione was referring to Henry's physical interest in Carrigan. She had a point, but it was an assumption that I trusted Carrigan to call out. If Henry was only interested Carrigan for a physical relationship, Carrigan would have made it clear that she wasn't. I frowned suddenly. What if she did want a relationship like that though?

I cursed silently in my head. I would worry about that tomorrow. Today, I just had to worry about getting Carrigan, Harry and the other children back to Hogwarts safely.

"Well," I said carefully to mend the awkwardness that had fallen between Harry and I. "I'm sure that Carrigan can take care of herself. With that said, I am also confident that you and the rest of her friends would look out for her best interests."

"Right," Harry said quickly. "That's all it is."

I nodded with a smile at Harry. He still looked uncomfortable. His cheeks were flushed red. He quickly pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Try not to worry about Sirius," I said, hoping to change the subject. "And Harry," I added. He looked up at me with questioning eyes, curious as to what I was about to say. "I know that you have to take lessons with Snape. Please take them seriously and work hard at what he is teaching you. It is very important that you be able to block your mind from invaders."

Harry sighed and nodded his head once. "I know it's important. That is what happened before Christmas, isn't it? Voldemort invaded my mind?" He whispered the last question so no one around us would hear.

"I'm afraid so," I replied. "But Dumbledore thinks it was accidental. Voldemort may not have realized there was a connection, but if he did, we don't want him taking advantage of that."

Harry's face contorted with deep thought. "Do you mean he could force me to see things that aren't real?"

I nodded. "That is part of the power behind Legilimency. You can make people believe whatever you want them to when you can control their mind."

"How do I know what is real and what is false?" Harry said with deep worry. "How do I know when I am in a vision of Voldemort's or my reality?"

I frowned. "Harry, first of all, we don't know if Voldemort knows about the connection. Secondly, if you learn and practice what Snape teaches you, you will be able to block any false realities that Voldemort may try to plant in your head. And lastly_, always follow your gut_. _Always._ If you can't trust yourself then you're lost in this world, real or otherwise. Alright?"

"Alright," Harry nodded. "I will do my best."

"That is all I ask," I smiled. He smiled at me in return as the bus came to a throttling stop and threw our bodies forward, almost out of our chairs.

"Hogwarts Gates!" the conductor shouted at the front of the bus.

"Come on everyone," Tonks said quickly. "Let's go."

She was off the Knight Bus first. She looked around to make sure no one suspicious was waiting at the stop to attack us. A few of the students got off, then Remus, then Carrigan, Henry, Harry and Ron. I got off the bus last.

Good byes were exchanged all around. Even Henry came up and said good-bye to me. He shook my hand and thanked me for letting him stay with us over the holiday. Harry kissed my cheek and gave me a tight hug, then Carrigan came to me. I embraced her tightly and kissed her forehead.

"Be safe," I whispered in her ear as I stroked her hair. The chilly wind bit at our skin, encouraging us to exchange our words quickly. "Study hard and keep up with your lessons from Benjamin." Carrigan rolled her eyes at me. "It's important, Carrigan."

"I know," she sighed with aggravation.

"Be sure to write. Especially if anything unusual goes on with Umbridge."

"I will," Carrigan nodded as she pulled back to look me in the eye. "You be safe too. Especially with those dreams."

I pinched her cheek. "Do not worry. All will be well, Carrigan."

"We're at the beginning of a war, Mom. Nothing will be well by the end of it."

I frowned deeply as she squeezed my hands and moved away. All of the other children were already making their way up the gravel path past the gates towards Hogwarts Castle. Carrigan waved and turned before dashing off to catch up to Henry.

"Cadence," Benjamin said calmly. I turned with mild surprise. He smiled slyly and gave me a quick hug, which surprised me. "Thank you for letting me stay with you over holiday."

"Benjamin, you do not have to thank me," I replied. "You are family."

Benjamin smiled when he stepped back. There was a pinch in my stomach as I looked at him. All I could see in his eyes was the resemblance he shared with his mother, Savanna Snow, a.k.a. Penelope Talon. I frowned, which caused him to look at me curiously.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing you should worry about," I forced a smile. "Please keep Carrigan on task this term. She needs to be training daily."

"Of course, Sirius asked the same."

I laughed. "Is it pleasing you that we're starting to understand how much she needs to train?"

Benjamin nodded. "Yes, it is. I will do my best to keep her focused, but her personal life makes that difficult."

"Do your best, that is all I ask."

"Of course," Benjamin bowed his head and moved away from me slowly. "Good bye, Cadence."

"Everything alright, Cadence?" Remus asked as he came to stand next to me. I looked up at him with a faint smile.

"As alright as it can be," I shrugged. He smiled and nodded his head. Tonks stood next to Remus as we waited for the children to disappear into Hogwarts Castle. My stomach twisted with discomfort as I thought of the truth I was keeping from Benjamin, the conversation Harry and I had on the bus, and the concerns of Carrigan. I placed my hands on my stomach as it squirmed. I felt sick and I wasn't sure if it was from the nightmare I had before I woke that morning, or if I was worried about Harry and Carrigan.

"Come on," Remus said to Tonks and I. "Let's get out of here."

"I'll see you two," I said with a small wave. "I'm heading back to my house."

"Alright. See you at the meeting next week?" Tonks asked.

"Yep," I nodded awkwardly. My stomach rolled with discomfort. "I'll see you."

Remus and Tonks were both studying me with anxious eyes. I ignored the stares, however, and Disapparated from the gravel path without another word. I concentrated all of my energy and thoughts on the bathroom of my new home at the brownstone. If I was going to get sick again, it was going to be in a toilet, not all over my new hard wood floors.

To my horror, my feet hit the floor of the bathroom and before I could take in my surroundings, I fell straight through the floor. I let out a scream of shock as I fell and landed like a toy doll on a pile of burnt wood. The air was knocked out of me, my head spun, and my entire body ached from the pain of landing sharply on my side. My arm pinch under my side with a loud crack. The pain that shot up from my elbow to my shoulder told me that I had broken my arm from the fall.

I shook my head and looked up around me. My stomach no longer felt sick, it felt empty. My heart sank as I looked around the destroy remains of a brownstone. The cold January air was blowing over me because the walls had been destroyed; they hardly remained. The house was so destroyed I couldn't even tell what room I was in.

It took me a few moments to regain my bearings. I stood up from the debris that surrounded me, while I cradled my broken arm, and looked around the disaster sight trying to figure out where I was.

There was broken glass, wood and clothe all over. As I moved forward, through the debris, I saw broken pieces of furniture, burnt books and the remains of my large oak desk that had been in the upstairs study. I looked up and saw that most of the second floor was collapsed onto the main floor of the house. The back west corner of the house remained to the ceiling mostly, but the rest of the walls were collapsed in and stained with burn marks. I kicked the broken furniture and singed personal belongings out of the way as I moved towards where the front door of the house once stood.

Once I was down the porch and standing in front of the house, I was able to look at the mailbox and confirm that it was my destroyed brownstone that I had Apparated into. I sighed with aggravation as my mind immediately turned to worry and fear.

Gabriel. Where was Gabriel? He hadn't been in the fire, had he?

I didn't have to wonder what had happened to the house. It was no accident, I was sure. Voldemort had found me and destroyed my home to make a point. I frowned and closed my eyes tightly.

_Gabriel._

I waited patiently for him to answer me. I remained on the porch steps of the brownstone, facing the destroyed building with my eyes tightly closed, just waiting. He would answer. He was supposed to be at the Ministry. He was not supposed to be home.

_Gabriel._

He had always been able to hear me when I tried to connect to him. He was usually able to sense when I needed him before I even knew I needed him. It was unusual for him not to answer. Tears began to well up in my eyes and I bit my bottom lip with anxiety.

_Gabriel!_

But no answer came.


	28. Still Standing

There was a moment of uncertainty. I grabbed my forehead and crotched down so that my chest was pressed to my knees as my fingers tangled in my hair and pulled. I concentrated as hard as I could, searching for Gabriel's presence somewhere in the city. A Guardian was always supposed to hear his Student—so where the hell was mine!?

_Gabriel!_

There was still no answer. I wiped my cheeks as I stood up straight. If he wasn't answering that meant one of two things: he was either dead and his body was in the debris somewhere, or he was dead somewhere else. There was no reason that I could think of, that would prevent him from answer me. The only possibility was that he was dead.

I moved forward, passed through the place where my front door had once stood, and began to look through the debris. As I kicked through the remains of the front sitting room, the sound of movement caught my attention. I paused, stood up straight and peered out around me.

There was no one near by. I stood alone in the debris of the brownstone and yet…I could feel someone's presence. Someone was watching me. I turned on my heel to look behind me, but there was no one that I could see.

As I stared at the back of the brownstone, and the remains of my dinning room and kitchen, I heard movement behind me. I turned sharply, just in time to see a Death Eater in full black robes and hood, standing in front of the broken pains of the front window. The Death Eater flicked his wand violently at me but I jumped out of his line of fire. I threw my body down behind the broken couch of the sitting room and pulled for my wand in my boot. My injured arm hung uselessly at my side and seared with pain as I clenched my wand in my left hand.

There was a flash of yellow light and an explosion over my head. The remains of the wall that separated the kitchen from the front room came tumbling down over me. I ducked, covering my head, as the breath was knocked out of me from the falling wood and brick.

I didn't move after the wall had fallen. I grimaced in pain—my entire body hurt now—and tried to stay quiet. I listened for any sort of movement from my attacker, but none came. I turned my head, pressed it against the dirty wooden floor and stole a look out across the floor of the room from under the couch. There wasn't much to see from the angle because the floor was covered with dirt, wood, glass and other forms of debris that had once been pieces of my home.

I held my breath. The Death Eater had to come and check for me. They wouldn't leave without making sure I was dead. Sure enough, within a moment, the couch went flying away from me. It sailed across the room, into the foyer, and slammed against the remnants of the staircase to the second floor.

"Come out, come out, Princess," said the Death Eater in a deep masculine voice. His tone taunted me, which light a fire of rage deep inside of me. "I want to play…"

I began to stand, shoving the wood and dry wall off me with difficultly. To my surprise, the Death Eater waited for me to stand. I gasped for breath as I glared in the darkness at him. My eyes caught sight of a glowing green blob over my head. I looked up and saw the clear Dark Mark floating over my house, the snake slithered out of the skull's mouth smoothly.

"I'm not dead yet. Isn't that a little premature?" I questioned motioning up to it.

"I don't have that problem," the Death Eater replied. His black, pointed hood and mask muffled his words slightly, but I could still hear him well enough to understand. I smirked at his remark; someone was a little insecure about his sex life… "Things have been set into motion that cannot be stopped and the Dark Lord does not want you to get in the way. I have been sent to kill you—"

"Yea, that doesn't surprise me," I interrupted.

"The Dark Lord ordered it to be quick," he continued as if I hadn't said anything. "But I wanted to see how hard you would fight…"

"I am a little disappointed that Voldemort didn't come here himself," I remarked. "Daddy didn't want to say good-bye himself?" I faked a hurt tone in my voice.

"Didn't think you were worth the time." The Death Eater lifted his wand, but I spoke before he muttered a spell.

"That is a shame," I nodded. "Because if you want something done right, you should do it yourself."

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

I slammed my foot down on the edge of the top of the coffee table. It flipped off the piece of wood it was laying on and I snatched it out of the air, holding it like a shield in front of the killing curse. The curse hit the oak coffee table top, caused it to explode into a thousand little wooden pieces and sent me flying backwards.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed in pain as I was thrown back onto a sharp piece of wood. It stabbed me in the side of my back, just over my left hip. I lifted my wand and flicked it viciously at the Death Eater who was marching towards me. My spell was enough to through him threw the remains of the front window. There was the sound of breaking wood and shattering glass as he sailed through the window frame and out onto the sidewalk in front of the brownstone. I knew he would be back. I just needed some time to get off the piece of wood that I was stuck on.

I lifted my body up, while gritting my teeth so not to cry out, and pushed my weight forward. I tried to stand up to pull myself off of the wood, but I didn't have enough strength. I fell back and cried out loudly as the wood stuck in me farther. I could feel the hot blood running down my lower back, butt and thighs. When I looked down it was pooling under me, soaking into my pants and cloak. I sighed, gritted my teeth again and planted my feet firmly on the ground. Using all of my strength, I pulled my body forward and up at the angle that the wood had stabbed me in the back. I scooted forward and tried to stand; I stumbled and fell over on the ground, but thankfully, the wood was out of my back. I laid on the ground for a moment to regain my composure.

Reaching behind me, I felt the hole in my flesh. My hand covered in blood, but the wound itself didn't feel that bad. It didn't feel that deep either. I shivered and stood up as dizziness began to take control. I shook my head, tried to get my bearings and lifted my wand hand, ready for the Death Eater to return.

He didn't, though. He never came back through the window. I moved forward slowly, almost unable to walk because I was feeling so light-headed. When I reached the window, I looked out onto the front sidewalk. No one was there. There was a small blood stain on the cement, but it was not large enough to suggest that the Death Eater was hurt badly. Something wasn't right…why would he leave like that?

There was a loud _crack_ on the street that diverted my attention from where the Death Eater had laid on the sidewalk. I sighed with some relief when I recognized Gabriel's figure on the street. He seemed calm, relaxed when he first appeared, but then he looked up at the house as he pulled out his wand.

"Bloody hell!"

He dashed forward to the sidewalk and up the front steps, he didn't notice me standing in the window. His eyes had started straight at the Dark Mark floating over our destroyed home.

"Cadence!" he yelled as he entered the remains of our brownstone. "Cadence!"

"I'm here," I called as I sunk down to the floor by the window. I dropped my wand uselessly. Gabriel turned into the sitting room after dropping his briefcase down in the foyer. He jumped over the broken furniture and piles of debris to me. "Welcome home, honey."

He grabbed my shoulder and lifted my chin to look me in the eye. My heart soared when I looked into his purple eyes. I sighed with relief and tears entered my eyes again. I grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it tightly.

"The name of our son?" he asked gently.

"Caspian," I replied still staring at him. "How many times have I been pregnant with your child?"

"Once," Gabriel said soundly. He smiled broadly and with a joking tone added, "At least, that's all that I know of. Are you trying to tell me—"

"Don't be ridiculous," I sighed as I hit his shoulder lightly.

"You're a mess."

"Thank you."

"Tell me what happened," he said helping me up. I grimaced when he touched my broken arm. He frowned and looked me over. "Wait till we get out of here."

I nodded in understanding. "You have really terrible timing," I commented as he cradled me in his arms. "Where were you ten minutes ago? I could have used you."

"You look like you handled it—"

"Of course I handled it!"

"Well, what matters is I'm here now," he smiled at me as he made his way to the foyer. He swooped down and picked up his briefcase, while still holding me. He titled his head down and kissed my forehead. "Hold tight."

"I can't," I whispered. My right arm was against his chest, but I couldn't move it at all to wrap it around his neck. Gabriel frowned but nodded his head. I closed my eyes and laid my head on his chest, preparing to Apparate. "Our burnt down around us."

Gabriel looked at me in his arms with sad eyes. "At least we are still standing."

I smiled weakly at him and nodded my head. "Let's go. The bastard that did this might come back."

Gabriel Disapparated without another moment of hesitation. I kept my eyes closed as we traveled through space; our bodies being pressed together as if we were being forced down a thin tube. When we landed, I opened my eyes to see that we were in Grimmauld Place, the square outside of Number Twelve. Gabriel looked around the square from the corner of bushes that we stood in before he crossed the street heading for Sirius' home. I kept my head on his shoulder as he walked.

Calmness had settled in me. I don't know if it was the exhaustion and blood loss that was allowing me to relax, or if it was the mere fact that Gabriel was carrying me. There was no reason for me to worry. Of course, he hadn't been in the house when that Death Eater burnt it to the ground. He was at the Ministry; at work still.

"Get the door?"

I raised my good arm and tried the doorknob, but it was locked, which wasn't surprising. I knocked gently on the front door of Number Twelve, hoping someone would hear the quiet knock.

"Sirius isn't expecting anyone," I said.

"He should be ready for anything," Gabriel said with a harsher tone. I laid my head back and dropped my arm down.

"Gabriel…" I sighed as my eyes fluttered shut. Gabriel kicked the door sharply with his foot, banging on it. From where we stood on the porch, we could hear Mrs. Black's portrait start to wail.

"Who is it!?" shout Sirius' voice through the door. He sounded perturbed, but also concerned.

"Gabriel and Cadence," Gabriel replied instantly. "Carrigan's middle name is Arista. Cadence gave you the necklace you're wearing with a piece of the star Sirius—"

"What's the rush?" Sirius questioned sharply because Gabriel was giving him answers to security questions he hadn't even asked yet.

"Cadence is hurt!" Gabriel raged.

I could hear the lock to the door clicking, then Sirius appeared behind it once he pulled it open. "What happened?"

"Not really sure," Gabriel sighed as he entered the room. "I'm taking her upstairs."

When we arrived in the bedroom, Gabriel laid me on the bed. He dropped his briefcase and quickly began to remove my clothing. His wand was in his mouth as his hands worked to take off my cloak, shirt and pants. He removed them gingerly, to ensure that I wasn't in anymore pain then was necessary.

"Cadence, tell us what happened?" Sirius questioned as he knelt down by the head of the bed.

"Sirius, help me roll her on her side," Gabriel said. "She's losing blood. I need to look at the wound on her back."

I was only half listening to them talk. Their words traveled in and out of my ears as if someone was controlling the volume of my surroundings. Their voices faded in and out; like the volume was being turned up and down. I felt Sirius touching my shoulders to hold me on my side as Gabriel began to poke his wand at the wound on my back. I cried out with each stab and prod he gave the wound while muttering complicated medical spells.

I squeezed my eyes shut as Sirius reached for my hand. He squeezed it tightly to reassure me that everything would be fine, but I already knew it would be. I trusted that Gabriel would be able to fix my injuries.

As the pain in my back started to numb and subside, I began to drift off into exhaustion. I relaxed my body and closed my eyes, allowing myself to relax and sleep.

An excoriating pain shot up my spine and into my skull. It throttled me awake. I jumped with a start and tumbled out of the bed in complete shock as obscene joy overloaded my system. The emotions were gone from my mind as quickly as they had come, but the pain in my spine and head lingered. I sat back on the floor while gasping for breath and rubbing my forehead.

When the pain had faded to just a tingle of discomfort behind my eyes, I sighed and looked out at the room around me. It was dark and cold. My body ached with every movement. Every joint felt stiff, every muscle sore. The pain was most severe in my lower back and my right arm. Gabriel had repaired both of my serious wounds with precision, but I was starting to think that I was getting too old for this shit.

I was surprised to find that I was alone in the bed. I was wearing a plain black tee shirt and a pair of Gabriel's gym-shorts. I smiled but shivered, it was too chilly in the drafty house to wear just a tee shirt and shorts. I snapped my fingers to conjure some warming comfortable clothing. A pair of black yoga pants and a red pullover appeared at the bottom of the bed. I hastily pulled them on before standing up and making my way to the bedroom door.

Number Twelve was oddly quiet as I passed through the narrow halls and staircases. I wasn't sure how long I had been asleep, but I thought it had to have been for at least a day. There was no way that I had woken up the same night that I was attacked.

Sirius, Remus and Tonks were in the kitchen when I arrived. Sirius stood up quickly as he looked at me with worried midnight-blue eyes that tore me to pieces. I gave him a weak smile as I slowly crossed the room. He pulled out a chair for me, motioned for me to sit and then disappeared into the pantry to get something for me to eat.

"How are you feeling, Cadence?" Remus asked with a comforting smile on his face. Despite the relaxed expression on his face, I could see deep worry and a hint of fear in his eyes. I looked to Tonks, as I answered Remus.

"I am fine, thank you," I replied. Tonks looked more worried then Remus. She looked edgy, almost angry and restless. "What is the matter?"

Sirius reappeared, placing bread and fruit on the table. "Do you want some soup?"

"No," I answered quickly. "Where is Gabriel?"

No one answered my question right away. Remus and Tonks both glanced at Sirius, who was frowning deeply. He was standing next to the seat that I had taken at the table. In his navy blue eyes I could see grimness. He was fearful and worried.

"About an hour ago, there was a mass break out at Azkaban," Sirius said very slowly while he still stood. "Gabriel is there with the Ministry."

My head throbbed with disbelief as I listened to Sirius speak. I closed my eyes tightly. The headache that had woken me, with the joyous emotions, was a connection I had to my father thanks to our magical bonds. I ran my hand through my hair as rage built up in my body.

"The Ministry is blaming you, aren't they?" I whispered.

"Yes," Sirius said sorely. "Of course they would, who else could they blame?"

"Perhaps the person who is actually responsible!" I shouted violently. The sudden outburst caused the kitchen table to shake with my anger. Tonks looked around nervously. She had never experience my emotions getting the best of my physical powers.

"You know Fudge can't do that, Cadence," Remus said calmly. "He's built up too much of a story against Dumbledore, Harry and the fact that your father has returned. He has to stick to his story."

"I know," I sighed with aggravation. "He's a bloody coward. The people should call for his resignation."

"The people don't know any better," Remus replied. I turned away from him. His calm tone was frustrating me more then the bad news. I looked straight up at Sirius.

"Have the Dementors completely abandoned Azkaban?"

"Not yet," Sirius replied. "We still don't know much just that ten high security prisoners escaped and the Dementors just let it happen."

"Voldemort was there, no doubt," I said with a nod. "Gabriel is there now?"

"Yes," Tonks said. "Mad-Eye and Kingsley are with him."

"I'm going to head out," I said standing up without touching the food that Sirius had placed in front of me.

"What?" Sirius questioned. "No, you can't go out there—"

"—I could be of some use—"

"—You don't work for the Ministry anymore, Cadence," Remus interjected. "Dumbledore wants you to stay here. Once Gabriel, Mad-Eye and Kingsley have assed the situation, then we will proceed with action."

I rolled my eyes scornfully. I knew Remus was right, I just didn't want to admit it out loud. I should have been out there. I should have been helping Gabriel track down the sick-psychopaths that my father had just broken out of Azkaban. Those were his true followers. They were the ones who went to Azkaban for him; they did not turn their backs on him when they were accused of being his followers. They were honored to survive time, waiting for his return. Now that they were free from Azkaban and aligned with my father again, the war really had started, just like Carrigan said it would.


	29. Afraid

Despite Carrigan's fears that a true war was about to start and the mass break outs from Azkaban in January, for the next month nothing seemed to be happening. Voldemort was still lying low, which was too his advantage since the Ministry was still in denial. The Order of the Phoenix was still protecting the Department of Mysteries, even though many of the members didn't know what they were protecting specifically. Dumbledore had forbade me from participating in guarding the Department of Mysteries since the Order was cutting it close to the wire. People who were not employed by the Ministry would lead to even more questions if they were caught sitting outside the department. He also wanted me to heal properly before I went back out to face the fights that were waiting. He suggested that I focus on why a Death Eater tried to kill me.

"Because Voldemort told him too!" I shouted at Dumbledore in anger at the beginning of February when he came to see me at Number Twelve, where Gabriel and I had taken up residency again. "I didn't think it was that big of a secret that my father wants me dead!"

Dumbledore was standing at the opposite end of the kitchen table, near the staircase, looking relatively calm. His hands were folded in front of him, his half moon glasses were sitting on the tip of his nose, and his crystal clear blue eyes were smiling at me.

"Why did he run then? Why didn't he finish the job?"

"Because he was a coward," I suggested. "Why does that matter? If I am fit enough to hunt down the bastard that burnt my house to the ground, then I am most certainly fit enough to guard the department of mysteries—"

"Perhaps he wants you to hunt down that Death Eater for a reason," Gabriel interjected into the conversation from the staircase. He appeared at the bottom of it dressed in jeans and a pullover. He had his coat in hand; he was leaving to go guard the Department of Mysteries for the night.

I crossed my arms tightly over my chest and glared at the two men before me. I flashed back years into my past, when I was younger and both men tried to govern my behavior. I would be damned if the same thing happened this time around. I wasn't young, stupid and irresponsible now.

"No," Gabriel said. "You're just older and more stubborn now then you ever were when you were younger."

"Why do you want me to find him?" I questioned. I turned my glaring eyes away from Gabriel who had easily read my mind. Dumbledore gave me a frank smile.

"I want to know why he burned your house down, but didn't finish the job," Dumbledore said. "I want to make sure that he was actually supposed to kill you and he wasn't there with another agenda."

"What could he possibly have been looking for?" I whispered realizing Dumbledore had a point.

"I do not know," Dumbledore replied. "But, I think it's safe to assume that nothing is what it seems anymore. As Form suggested, there are other villains out there besides your father."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows at Dumbledore. "Do you think there is someone more dangerous then Voldemort out there?"

"I think that good needs evil to exist, and vice versa."

Dumbledore's answer was troubling and deep. I bit my bottom lip and nodded my head, accepting what he wanted me to do. It had not been easy for me the last month. I felt trapped in headquarters, much like Sirius did; and I was terrified that I wasn't safe anywhere. I was putting the Order and everyone I cared about in danger. By the middle of the month, I thought I was going to go crazy from the cabin fever that was starting to set in. I needed to get out of the house; and maybe Dumbledore was right, the best way to use up my energy was to search for the Death Eater that had burned down the brownstone. I just couldn't help thinking that Dumbledore was keeping me out of the Order's business for some reason….

"Well, you should see what your godson has done now," said Sirius throwing down a thick, and rather large, envelope on the table in front of me as Gabriel and I were eating dinner at the beginning of March. I frowned slightly as I picked up the packet from Hogwarts. It was from Carrigan, and had been opened already. It was address to Sirius and I; obviously, he had opened it and read it already.

"What does that mean?" I asked as I pulled out a thick magazine and a letter from Carrigan. My eyes fell immediately on the cover of the magazine, _The Quibbler_, where Harry's beaming photograph stared back at me. "Oh, Merlin…"

I unfolded Carrigan's letter and read it quickly.

_Dear Mum, _

_In case you haven't seen it yet, I sent you a copy of _The Quibbler_ with Harry's interview concerning what happened last June. Hermione convinced him to give the interview to Rita Skeeter on Valentine's Day during our Hogsmeade visit. It has sparked a great deal of conversation and rumors, just as Hermione hoped it would. Umbridge banned it—that is why I am sending my copy to you…otherwise, I will be expelled._

_Read the article. It's quite good. I hope to see you and the rest of the family on Easter. Happy reading! _

_ Carrigan_

"Carrigan is a little late getting this news to us," Sirius said matter-of-factly. "The article was published just after Valentine's Day."

"And it's March already. Hermione is a very smart girl," I said as I put down the letter and picked up the magazine. Gabriel picked up the letter from across the table and glanced over it.

"Yes, she is," Sirius nodded as he leaned over my shoulder to read the article. "Especially since Umbridge banned the article, everyone was sure to read it."

I nodded my head as I skimmed the article. Harry didn't hold anything back. The only thing Rita Skeeter censored was the use of Voldemort's name. Harry named the Death Eaters that were in the graveyard the night my father returned; he even describe the connection his and Voldemort's wands had. My name was mentioned in the story, which didn't surprise me. One specific question caught my attention:

_**Cadence Coleman was present that night but unable to protect you. Do you fear that she is also a Death Eater hiding among us?**__ No, I do not believe Cadence is a Death Eater. She is my godmother and someone that I have personally seen fight against You-Know-Who. I trust her with my life._

"It doesn't matter what I do or what Harry says, people will always think I am supporting my father," I frowned deeply as I looked up at Gabriel across the table. He held out his hand to motion for the magazine. I passed it off to him as Sirius took a seat next to me. He pulled the pot of tea towards him and poured himself a cup. "Do you know if Umbridge punished Harry for the interview?"

"I haven't heard anything yet," Sirius shook his head. "It was brilliant. It gives us an up in the war, helps people see that the Ministry is full of garbage, not Dumbledore or Harry."

"Or, it makes them look crazier," I whispered sadly.

"How could anyone think that?" Sirius insisted. "All they have to do is open their eyes to see what's going on at Hogwarts."

"People see and believe what they want to," Gabriel shrugged. "It's much easier to believe the Dumbledore has a few screws loose and Harry is some attention-starved kid then to believe that Voldemort has returned and the Ministry is lying about it. The Ministry is just telling people what they want to hear."

"Since when was the Ministry's job to tell the people what they want to hear? Aren't they supposed to protect the people!? Isn't that their job?"

"Sirius, I do agree with you. I'm just stating the perspective of the other side," Gabriel said with a half smile. He liked that he was getting under Sirius' skin over an issue that was relatively unimportant. I gave him an ugly look for bully my ex.

"Stop it. Both of you," I said before Sirius could retort. Sirius gave me a grave look before turning away and drinking his tea. I sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair. "What you're arguing about is irrelevant. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks. Someone will always deny Voldemort has returned until he makes his existence public knowledge again."

Gabriel and Sirius both looked grim at my comment. We all fell silent as Gabriel and I continued to eat our dinner and Sirius finished his cup of tea. "Are you guarding the Department of Mysteries tonight?" he asked Gabriel to break the silence.

"Nope, Tonks has it tonight," Gabriel looked at me with a smile. "I'm happy to be home tonight."

"It's been the first night in awhile," I said as I met his stare across the table.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I don't need to hear what you two are doing tonight."

I looked at Sirius quickly. "What? I'm going out tonight. I have work to do."

"What?" Gabriel and Sirius both questioned at the same time. I looked between them with a matter-of-fact expression on my face.

"I haven't found anything about that Death Eater that burnt down the brownstone, so I think I'm just going to go out…" my voice trailed off for a moment.

"Hunting?" Sirius said with distain.

"Patrolling," I corrected.

"Sure," Sirius said sarcastically as he stood up form the table. "If that's what you want to call it."

I stuck my tongue out at Sirius as he walked away. He disappeared up the basement staircase, no doubt to go to his room and wallow with Buckbeak. Silence fell in the kitchen, which allowed me to relax for a moment. I sat back in my chair and looked straight at Gabriel.

"Do you mind if I go with you?"

I paused as I studied him. I opened my mind to his in an attempt to use Legilimency on him. I wanted to know why he wanted to come with me. Was he being over-protective or did he actually want to get out of the house?

"I just want to spend time with you, Cadence," he said with a stubborn smile on his handsome lips. "I was hoping I could convince you to take the night off as well…"

"Well, Dumbledore really wants me to find this Death Eater."

"Don't you want to find him?" There was a curious and edgy tone to Gabriel's voice that caused my eyes to flicker with a warning. I didn't want to get into a fight with Gabriel. That seemed to be the only thing I did with anyone anymore. Gabriel and I had been fighting about the Death Eater that had attacked me, Sirius and I were fighting like we always did, Remus and I were fighting because of our different perspective regarding the protection of the Department of Mysteries…obviously, I had a problem getting a long with other people.

"I do," I said very slowly as I played with the food on the plate in front of me. I stabbed at the last of my chicken violently. I sighed with frustration at the all-knowing look Gabriel was giving me with his dark eyes. I dropped my fork on the plate and leaned back in my chair. "Just say it."

"Say what?"

"Whatever it is that you are dying to," I snipped. "I know you Gabriel. I can read you without Legilimency and I know when you're upset about my behavior. So, just spill already. Let's get it over with so we can stop fighting."

"I'm not the one who is fighting," Gabriel responded. "You are the one who is fighting everyone about everything."

"Of course, I am," I shook my head and looked down. "I'm always the problem."

Gabriel sighed as he placed his napkin on the table next to his plate. "Do you mind if I go with you or not?"

"Do whatever you want," I said standing up from the table quickly. I pushed my chair in and left the basement without another word. Gabriel didn't say anything to me either. I was thankful for the quiet I found in the rest of the house as I walked up to the second floor.

In our bedroom, I sat on the bed, thinking about what had just happened. Why was I so defensive all the time now? Why was I so on edge and irritable? I was alone for only a few minutes. Gabriel came into the room and closed the door tightly. Without a word, he took off his shirt and went to the wardrobe where he rummaged for a new shirt. I followed his naked body with my green eyes. Everything about Gabriel was fantastic; his muscles, eyes, hair, lips, tattoos, sarcasm, love, affection…everything. I frowned as I bit my bottom lip while I watched him dress.

"I'm scared," I said abruptly.

Gabriel stopped messing with the buttons of the new shirt he had put on and turned to face me. Curiosity was spread across his face. He didn't seem to understand why I would be afraid of anything.

"I'm scared that there is something worse then my father out there and that after we finish fighting him we will have to keep fighting to stay alive. I'm scared of having to fight. I'm scared that we'll never just get to live…" My voice trailed off as I looked at the wooden floor boards.

The floor creaked as Gabriel moved towards me. I looked up as he sat down next to me. He wrapped me in his arms and kissed my forehead before resting his chin on my head.

"It's okay to be afraid," he said strongly. "We are all afraid. But you can't let that fear rule you. Use it to fight."

I didn't say anything as he held me. I couldn't think of what to say because I wasn't sure if I believed him. Sure, it was okay to be afraid because we all were, but I wasn't sure if I could use it to motivate my desire to fight. I was tired of it all—the war, my father, his Death Eaters. I was tired of living in fear. I was tired of my daughter living on the run.

"We have to end this," I said strongly as I pulled out of Gabriel's arms. "Come on. We have to get out there and end this."

Gabriel gave me a broad smile as I stood before him. He stood up and squeezed my hands before kissing me deeply on the lips.

"Let's go catch some Death Eaters," he grinned before spanking me playfully and moving away. I couldn't help but smile despite the desperately terrified feelings deep within me. Gabriel finished dressing and left the room without another word. I sighed and dashed to the wardrobe to quickly change so that he didn't leave without me.


	30. Dumbledore's Exit

"Ah!" I cried out in sudden pain as my body was slammed back against the wall. Despite the violent hit, I did not loosen my grip on the Death Eater whose body I was wrapped around. I locked my legs tighter around his waist and squeezed my arms around his neck, holding his head in a lock. His hands clawed at my arms, scratching and thrashing, as I suffocated the life out of him. He slammed our bodies back against the wall, causing the dry wall behind us to crack on impact. I let out an aggravated yell as my entire body seared with pain and the air was knocked out of me. This had to be over soon, I wasn't sure how much more I could physically take.

I pulled back, forcing the Death Eater's head back and squeezed harder with my arms. Within a moment, the Death Eater started to loose his footing and he fell back, squishing me against the wall, and sunk down. His hands stopped pulling at my arms and eventually he stopped breathing.

I broke my grasp around him and sighed with aggravation because I was caught under his heavy body. I shoved the dead body off me, exhaled and pulled myself up off the ground. Throwing my hair out of my face, I looked down at the life I had just taken. My hands shook while my stomach twisted with discomfort and disgust. I was disgusted with myself. I leaned forward and tore the hood of the Death Eater's cloak off. The mask disappeared in a whirl of black smoke to reveal an older man, in his late fifties with salt-and-pepper-gray hair, chiseled features and age lines around his mouth and eyes. I sunk to my knee to get a closer look at him. My heart fell as his grey eyes, still wide-open and petrified, stared up at me.

Sudden movement behind me, creaking wood and rushed steps, tore me from my guilty thoughts. I rose quickly, wiped my wand out and brandished it at the door of the small bedroom that I was in. Gabriel came charging through, wand raised, ready to attack. He was wearing brown pants, black shirt and brown cloak. Blood stained his cloak and hands, which made my stomach turn. No doubt, he had killed the other Death Eater that we had found in the abandoned flat. When his eyes fell on me he lowered his wand, but kept a firm grip on it. He studied me for a moment.

"Who's basement did I betray you in?"

"The Jaspers," I replied to his security question. "Technically, it was their backyard though." I paused with hesitation as I stared at Gabriel. He looked like Gabriel, but that detail he should have known. I frowned, still holding my wand up at him. "What is your daughter's name?"

"Jennifer," Gabriel replied with a smirk. "I suppose you're right about the backyard."

"Uh huh," I sighed with relief and lowered my wand. As Gabriel approached me, I turned my attention back to the Death Eater I had just killed.

"Is it him?"

"No," I whispered with aggravation.

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't want to kill him," I shrugged. Gabriel frowned at me but nodded his head. He touched my shoulder gently and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"What of the women downstairs?"

"Dead," Gabriel said raising his hands to show me the bloodshed. I turned away from him to look back down at the body that was slumped against the wall. "Let's take a look around."

"We should get out of here," I shook my head. "Neither of them are the Death Eater that attacked me three months ago."

"Haiden's premonition wouldn't have brought us here if it didn't mean something," Gabriel insisted.

"Why do you trust that her vision is reliable?" I questioned looking at him sharply. My cloak and hair whirled around me as I turned to him. "Why do you trust that _she_ is reliable?"

"Haiden sent me that dream, Cadence, not Divinity—"

"How can you tell the difference?"

"I just can," Gabriel said. "She is my charge—"

"I thought you feared that Penelope was her Guardian."

"I have to believe that I am," Gabriel was starting to get frustrated with me. His tone was sharp now. "Why else would I receive her visions in my dreams?"

"So that she can fool you and mislead us. Divinity is the stronger entity and she follows my father. I think it is foolish to trust in Haiden when she is so weak."

"She is stronger then ever before," Gabriel replied sternly. "And you should be ashamed that you've lost faith in her."

"Let's not go there!" I snipped in annoyance. Of all the people to accuse me of losing faith in my niece, Gabriel was out of line. He knew that I had never given up on her. She was always lost to me and I always wanted to help her. But now, I had accepted that she was the only person who could help herself. To be free of Divinity, of her multiple personalities, she had to regain control of her existence. Until then, she could just be a vessel for Divinity and my father to use against us.

"Just go look around," I shook my head.

Gabriel turned away from me and kicked some of the rummaged furniture in the room out of his way. I rolled my eyes at his aggression and turned away from him. My eyes fell on the Death Eater's body again and I quickly turned away towards a desk that was in the far corner of the room.

"What exactly are we looking for?" I asked as I made my way to the desk.

Gabriel lifted the mattress from the bedspring and flipped it over. When he found notion he turned to the nightstand and began to dig through the crowded drawer.

"Evidence that someone else stayed here with them," he sighed. "Paper evidence that someone was looking for you…anything suspicious."

Inside the desk drawers there was only random scraps of papers and writing utensils. I slammed the drawers shut and reached for the bottom one, but it didn't open. I pulled at the handle again, but it was locked. I frowned and pulled my wand out. I tapped the drawer a few times as I uttered spells in my head, but nothing happened. I stood up, tucked my wand in my pocket and took a step back. With one swift stomp of my foot, I smashed the handle clean off the drawer. When the handle was destroyed, the lock released and the drawer cracked open.

"What was that?" Gabriel asked from behind me.

I knelt down and pulled open the drawer. "This drawer was locked."

I heard Gabriel move across the room towards me. "What's in it?"

"Nothing," I sighed with disappointment as I pulled out a handful of newspaper clippings and threw them on the desktop. "Just newspaper clippings. Maybe there is a hidden compartment…"

I reached my hand into the drawer, all the way towards the back, so that my entire arm was in the desk drawer.

"Cadence," Gabriel said from above me. I looked up at him with raised eyebrows. He was standing next to me, leaning over the desk, looking at the newspaper clippings.

"What?" I pulled my arm out of the desk drawer and stood up next to him.

Gabriel was organizing the newspaper clippings so that they laid out flat and everything could be seen. My heart sank into my stomach as I looked at the pictures he had spread out. Every picture was of me, Gabriel or Carrigan.

"I think this is what we were looking for," Gabriel said as he looked down at me. I leaned forward and picked up the picture of Carrigan that had been published almost two summers ago. It was a picture of her from the Quidditch World Cup, when she had stopped the flaming falling object over me.

I put it down with a grim expression and picked up a clipping with a picture of me from when I was much younger and at Hogwarts. "What does this mean?"

"They were obviously coming after you."

"Us," I corrected as I tapped a clipping with Gabriel's picture on it. "They're after us and our family….but why would they need these clippings? Who we are and what we do isn't a secret, especially since they work for my father."

"Maybe they don't," Gabriel said sorely.

"They just happen to work for my father and some other bad-guy?" I questioned. "That doesn't seem coincidence."

"Of course not," Gabriel said wisely. "Whoever this other bad-guy is, they want to overthrow your father too."

"And they need our help?" I asked.

"Maybe Haiden wanted us to come here to see who else is out to get us, she was helping us with the other bad-guy…maybe this has nothing to do with the man that attacked you in January."

"Why would she want us to go after this other guy?" I asked. "Which, we really need to figure out who he or she is—I don't want to call him the 'other guy' anymore."

Gabriel frowned. "I don't know…"

"Do you think it's possible that she sent you the dream in hopes that we would find this 'other guy' and take him out so he isn't a threat to my father?"

"I don't know," Gabriel repeated. "Let's get out of here. We can theorize at the house."

"Alright, but I'm taking these," I said as I collected the news clippings.

We Apparated to head quarters and quickly made our way down into the kitchen to further discuss what we had just found. When we arrived in the kitchen, I was not surprised to see Sirius and Remus sitting at the table drinking fire whiskey and eating soup.

"Hello boys," I said mildly as I laid the clippings on the table.

"What are those?"

"News clippings we found in a Death Eater's desk," Gabriel said as he took a seat next to Remus.

"Of what?" Remus asked as he pushed the bottle of fire whiskey to Gabriel, who graciously accepted it. He conjured himself a shot glass and poured the alcohol into it.

"Me, Carrigan and Gabriel," I replied as I took a seat.

"_What?_" Sirius leaned forward and started to look at the clippings.

"We're not sure what they mean," Gabriel said after he had taken his shot.

"Why would Death Eaters have news clippings of you?" Remus inquired.

"Don't know," I said standing up and taking off my cloak. I threw it on the back of the chair before snapping my fingers. A chalkboard appeared out of thin air. I snatched it and leaned it up against the wall of the kitchen. I pulled out my wand and pointed at the board as I continued to speak.

"First, Rickon Form attacks and makes multiple attempts on my life. He kills Mitchell to keep him quiet about Cepheus, the code-name for Voldemort's operation to capture and study Haiden," As I spoke blue writing began to appear on the board in the top left corner summarizing what I was said. I had to make a flow chart of the events that had happened and the connections to the people involved if I was every going to figure this thing out. "We know that Form worked for Voldemort and he suggested some other organization or person."

"You said when you interviewed him he denied that he was involved with anyone else under truth potion," Remus pointed out.

"I think we should keep an open mind," I said with a frank smile.

On the board, two vertical lines appeared under Form's name. One line pointed to 'Voldemort,' while the other pointed to 'Other.'

"An unknown Death Eater attacks me in January and burns down our brownstone," I continued. As I talked, the chalk continued to appear on the board, sketching my ideas as I spoke. I paced back and forth in front of the three men. "We assume him to be connected to my father. He said that he was sent to kill me, but did not. Why?"

"Then, two weeks ago, I receive a vision from Haiden in the form a dream," Gabriel said. "In the dream, I see two Death Eater's through a window of a flat with the address 1313 near the window. We went there today and found these."

"What about the Death Eaters?" Sirius looked up from the clippings and asked.

"Self defense," I whispered sorely as I turned to look at the chalkboard. Gabriel's comments had appeared on it as well. "There were two, a man and woman, but neither were the Death Eater that attacked me."

"So, you just have more questions, not answers," Remus said.

"Yes," Gabriel nodded. "I think the two Death Eaters today are insignificant—"

"Except they were keeping clippings of Cadence and my daughter," Sirius snipped. "That doesn't seem insignificant to me."

"And we don't know why Divinity would send you that vision," I added.

"Unless it was simply to throw you both off of the trail of the first Death Eater," Remus pointed to the top left corner. "And Divinity is protecting your father's investments."

"So, the vision, two Death Eaters and news clippings were all a distraction," Gabriel repeated with a frustrated look. He poured himself another shot and took it quickly. I frowned and gripped the chair in front of me with a sad expression in my eyes. I knew it pained Gabriel to think that Divinity was trying to trick him. He wanted to believe so desperately that Haiden was taking control, and soon Divinity wouldn't exist. I wanted it too, but that desire for my niece to return to us could not blind the reality before me.

"What's next then?" Sirius asked. "Since tonight was pretty much a waste."

"Not a waste," Gabriel interjected before I could speak. There was a harshness to his tone that made my senses heighten. I didn't want to have to break up a fight between Sirius and Gabriel. "There are two less Death Eaters in the world."

"You're no better then Voldemort when you just kill people at random!" Sirius snapped.

"It was self-defense!" Gabriel yelled.

"Enough!" I shouted. "I'm going to see Dumbledore, to see what he thinks of all this." I motioned to the news clippings in front of me. "I don't want to rule anything out. If someone is actually after Carrigan to the point that they're keeping pictures of her, then that means they're probably planning on kidnapping her. We need to be careful. Dumbledore is right when he says that there are other evils besides my father out there."

"You think that there is someone worse out there?" Remus asked.

"I think that we should be prepared for anything," I responded. "I'm scared that we're so focused on my father that we're missing something else."

"I think you're just paranoid," Sirius sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

"This is not paranoia!" I hissed as I threw a handful of the news clippings at him. I turned on my heel as I snatched up my cloak and made my way out of the kitchen. In the foyer, as I pulled on my cloak, Gabriel appeared.

"Are you coming with me?" I asked as I buttoned my cloak.

"No," Gabriel frowned. "I have to be at the Ministry in an hour to relieve Tonks."

I nodded. "Of course," I responded. "Do you think I'm being paranoid?'

"I don't think there is anything wrong with suspecting that the entire world is out to get you, especially when it concerns your daughter."

I smiled up at Gabriel as he beamed back at me. His eyes were purple today, sparkling with mystery and affection. I clenched his collar and stood on my toes to kiss him passionately. He instantly wrapped me in his arms and kissed me in return, deeply, with such love that I felt I was the luckiest woman alive.

"We're a pretty neurotic couple," I said as I pulled out of the kiss. He smiled and stole another kiss from me.

"I prefer to think of us as prepared for anything."

I broke free with a lighthearted laugh. "Alright. I'll go see what Dumbledore thinks."

"Say hello to Carrigan for me," Gabriel said while stroking my hair behind me ear. I smiled again at him.

"I will. I'll also tell her to watch her back that someone may be looking to kidnap her, not just kill her."

"Speak to Benjamin as well then."

I nodded in understanding. "I'll see you in the morning."

Gabriel grabbed me before I went to the door and pulled me into a lustful, desperate kiss that took my breath away. I relaxed against him, kissed him gently in return and without a word Disapparated straight from his arms.

I Apparated into an alley in Hogsmeade village, which was dark and damp from the April drizzle. I pulled the hood of my cloak up over my head in an attempt to keep my hair dry as I made my way through the quiet village. By the time I reached the doors of Hogwarts, I was chilled to the bone from the cool rain. I pushed my hood off and shook the water from my cloak.

"Cadence Coleman," said a deep, slow voice that startled me. I jumped back and turned towards the voice. My eyes opened wide in shock as I stared up at a giant centaur with a beautiful brown horse body, and well-built muscular torso of a man. The centaur's face was middle-aged, with waves of blond hair and strong wise eyes.

"Do I know you?" I questioned in surprise. Of course I didn't know this centaur. I had never meet a centaur in my life.

"No," the centaur said, still in his slow voice that would comfort the fearful. "But I know of you. My name is Firenze, I have taken the Divination position here as a favor to Albus."

"Oh," I nodded. I fixed my cloak and forced a smile at Firenze. "Yes, my daughter wrote to me about it. That's very nice of you to do."

"What brings you here Cadence Coleman?"

"I'm here to see the Headmaster," I said slowly. I wasn't sure why the centaur had stopped me at the door, or why he was questioning my reasons for being at Hogwarts.

"He has great company tonight. You should move quickly if you wish to speak to him," Firenze continued in his dreamy voice. "I'm afraid he will not be here much longer…" His voice trailed off.

"What?"

"I am happy I saw you," he continued as if I hadn't questioned him. "I feel that I must warn you of a great tragedy that is on your path in the near future."

"A great tragedy?" My heart sank. There were so many things that could happen in the near future that I considered a tragedy: Gabriel dying, Carrigan getting kidnapped, getting pregnant again…

"Do not fear, it is not a child. You are not destined to bear anymore," Firenze said seriously. "Your daughter will bear the child you are meant to guide and protect—"

"_Excuse me?"_

"Reproduction is part of the human experience, I'm sure that does not surprise you," Firenze said to my retort. He seemed surprised that I would be shocked at the idea of Carrigan reproducing.

"No," I sighed, deciding to let it go. I had so many other things to worry about, I would worry about Carrigan having a child someday later. "No, I suppose it doesn't. But what about this great tragedy? Is Carrigan going to get knocked-up and that's the tragedy I have to worry about?"

"No," Firenz shook his head with mild frustration. "Carrigan Coleman is not destined to have a child yet, besides that path can always change, but the great tragedy that you face isn't clear to me."

"So, you're warning me that something bad is going to happen to me in the future?"

"Yes."

"Well thanks," I said with some bite. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have to see the Headmaster."

"Of course, good evening Cadence Coleman."

"Good evening," I said as I moved past Firenze. As I walked away, I could only think that there were too many Seers in my life. I was tired to things being predicted and told me when they were vague and didn't really help me prepare for anything. Firenze wasn't kidding when he said Dumbledore had great company, though. Perhaps I should have taken that comment a little more seriously.

When I arrived in the office, it was full of people. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, his fingertips pressed together as his elbows rested on the desktop. He was wearing maroon robes, with gold embroidery on the hems. His moon shaped glasses were sitting on the bridge of his nose, as usual, in front of his crystal-blue, and rather calm, eyes. Professor McGonagall stood next to him, rigid and harsh looking. Her face gave nothing away, however. The Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge, was present; rolling back and forth from the balls to the heels of his feet. He looked uncomfortably happy and in control (which I knew could only be an illusion of his own making). Kingsley Shacklebolt was present, standing near the door of the room where I had just entered, along with another Auror I recognized from the department but did not know. Percy Weasley was also present, standing in a corner of the room away from everyone else. He looked just like his boss; happy and in control, though I doubted they were.

"Hi," I said awkwardly. "I wasn't aware that you had an audience."

"Hello, Ms. Coleman," Dumbledore said waving me in. "Please join us."

"What's going on?"

"None of your business," Fudge said quickly. "You shouldn't be here—"

Before he could finish speaking the door to the office was thrown open and Dolores Umbridge barged in dragging Harry Potter by the sleeve. I turned in surprise as my godson was dragged into the office like some sort of delinquent.

"Harry," I stammered. Harry pulled himself free of Umbridge as the door slammed behind them.

"Well, well, well…" Fudge said with satisfaction.

"He was heading back to his dormitory. The Malfoy boy caught him," Umbridge said in her bittersweet tone with a cruel smile that I desperately wanted to slap off her face.

"Did he? I'll be sure to tell Lucius," Fudge said as he turned to face me. "Coleman, excuse yourself. You're not meant to be here!"

"I'm sorry Cornelius, I feel that it is necessary for Cadence to be here," Dumbledore spoke up from his chair. "You just dragged her godson into my office on disciplinary problems. She has every right to be here."

"Thank you," I said to Dumbledore. I glared viciously at Fudge. He was mistaken if he thought I was going anywhere now that Harry had arrived in the office.

Fudge didn't say anything to Dumbledore and turned sharply to Harry.

"You know why you're here, don't you?" he snarled.

I looked between Harry and Dumbledore; to my surprise, Dumbledore very discretely shook his head slowly from side to side. He wasn't looking at Harry, but I knew the signal was meant for him to see. I looked back at Harry.

"Yeh—no." I couldn't help but smile.

"I beg your pardon?" Fudge questioned.

"No," Harry nodded his head once to reiterate that he didn't know why he was in the headmaster's office.

"You don't know why you're here?"

"No, I don't," Harry responded.

"So, you're telling us you have no idea why Professor Umbridge has brought you to this office? You are not aware that you have been caught breaking school rules?" Fudge was red in the face with frustration and his voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Which school rules has my godson broken?" I asked.

"He's not just broken countless school rules, but also Ministry decrees," Umbridge retorted with a jeer at me. She looked like she was a big-fat cat who had just caught a mouse and was ready to swallow it whole.

"So, it is news to you Potter, that an illegal student organization has been discovered?"

"Yes, it is," Harry said with innocent surprise that wouldn't fool anyone. I frowned slightly. Obviously, Harry had not inherited his father's skill of lying.

"Let me fetch our informant," Umbridge said with aggravation. She pivoted and left the room, leaving it awkwardly quiet. I stared at Harry, who was looking straight at Dumbledore, begging him with his green eyes to look at him. I concentrated on Harry's mind and spoke to him with Legilimency.

_Harry._

Harry physically jumped as if he was startled by something.

"What is it?" questioned Fudge.

"Nothing," Harry shook his head before looking straight at me.

_Is this what I think it's about?_

Harry exhaled. _Yes, the D.A._

I frowned. Harry's secret defense against the dark arts study group had been found out. That meant that anyone caught was going to be expelled. I looked to Dumbledore, who was looking straight at me as if he had sensed my communication to Harry.

_All will be well, _was all he said to me mentally. I nodded and looked away.

The door to the office opened as Umbridge guided a curly haired blonde into the office. I looked at her curiously because she had her robes pulled up over her face, right to the edge of her eyes.

"Don't be scared, dear," Umbridge said to the girl sweetly. "You have done the right thing. The Minister is very pleased with you. Marietta's mother, Minister," she looked to Fudge as she spoke. "is Madame Edgecombe from the Department of Magical Transportation. Floo Network office—she has been helping us police the fire here at Hogwarts, you know."

"Jolly good," said Fudge with a radiant smile. "Now, lower your robes, Marietta, tell us what you told Professor Umbridge."

But the girl didn't budge. She held her robes up firmly over her face. "Come now, Marietta," Umbridge insisted. The girl sighed and moved one of her hands, letting her cheeks appear. The word "SNEAK" was pimpled across her face. When the Minister saw it he jumped back with a yell of shock, which caused Marietta to cry and cover her face again. Umbridge exhaled an aggravated breath and pivoted to face Fudge and Dumbledore.

"Very well, you silly girl, I will tell him," she said. "Well, Minister, Miss Edgecombe here came to my office and told me that if I proceeded to a secret room on the seventh floor, I would find out something to my advantage. I questioned her further and she told me there was some kind of meeting occurring there tonight. But at that moment, this hex came into play and when she caught her face in the mirror in my office, she immediately stopped talking."

Fudge nodded and looked to Marietta with attempted kindness in his expression. "Marietta, you did something very brave. It was right of you to go to Professor Umbridge, but we need more details now. Can you tell us what the meeting was for? Who was there?"

Marietta would not speak, though. She shook her head quickly, causing the curls on her head to bounce back and forth, as she looked around the room with wide and fearful eyes. Umbridge rolled her eyes with frustration.

"You will remember, Minister, that I sent you a report in October that Potter had met a number of fellow students in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade—"

"And what is your evidence of that?" McGonagall interrupted.

"I have a witness," Umbridge sneered. "Willy Widdershins, Minerva, who happened to be in the bar at the time. He was heavily bandaged, it is true, but there was no harm to his hearing. He heard every word of the plans Potter had and reported straight to me—"

"Willy Widdershins?" I questioned darkly. "The idiot who jinxed toilets to regurgitate on people once they used them?"

"Well, that explains why he was never prosecuted for that crime," McGonagall said with high eyebrows. "Interesting insight into our justice system!"

"The purpose of Potter's meeting," Umbridge continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "Was to recruit other students to join him in an illegal society, whose aim was to learn spells and curses that the Ministry has decided are inappropriate for school-age—"

"I think you'll find that you're wrong there, Dolores," Dumbledore said. His expression was still docile.

"Oh yes, let's here it Dumbledore! Another cock-and-bull-story, no doubt, to get Potter out of trouble. Well, let's here it! Willy Widdershins was lying, was he? Or was it Potter's evil-identical twin in the Hog's Head that day? Perhaps there is the usual simple explanation that requires reversing time, a dead man coming back to life, and a couple of invisible Dementors!?" Fudge was raging with frustration now.

I wanted to punch him for his comments regarding Sirius' escape. The man was so afraid to admit that he was wrong that he was starting to become paranoid and foolish. He was going to risk all of our lives just to keep his reputation alive. The truth was going to come out eventually that Voldemort had returned and I hoped beyond all hope that I was there when Fudge got the news. I wanted to see the color leave his face and regret fill his eyes as he realized he had wasted precious time that was necessary for us to survive.

"Cornelius," Dumbledore spoke. "I do not deny that Harry was in the Hog's Head that day and that he was trying to start a Defense Against the Dark Arts group. I am merely pointing out that Dolores is quite wrong to suggest that such a group was, at that time, illegal. The Ministry decree banning all student organizations was not put into effect until two days after Harry's Hogsmeade meeting, so he was not breaking any rules in the Hog's Head at all."

The shock on Fudge's face was priceless. But, where there was no mistake that Cornelius Fudge was an out-right idiot, Dolores Umbridge was not. She recovered quickly with a sweet smile.

"That's correct Headmaster," she admitted. "But we are now nearly six months from the introduction of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four. If the first meeting was not illegal, all those that have happened since most certainly are."

"Well, they certainly would be, if they had continued. Do you have any evidence that those meetings continued?"

As Dumbledore spoke, holding the attention of Umbridge and Fudge, I caught sight of Kingsley shifting from his position behind the door so that he was closer to the girl, Marietta. I saw his lips barely move, but I was sure that he had cast some sort of spell on her.

"Evidence?" Umbridge repeated with her horrid bittersweet smile. "What do you think Miss Edgecombe is doing here?"

"Oh, can she tell us about six months' worth of meetings?" said Dumbledore with innocence as he raised his eyebrows. "I was under the impression that she was merely reporting a meeting tonight."

Umbridge's cheeks flashed red with fury. She turned to Marietta instantly. "Tell us how long these meetings have been going on, dear. You can simply nod or shake your head. I'm sure that won't effect the hex on your skin. Have the meetings been happening regularly over the last six months?"

Marietta didn't move. She stared blankly forward, not willing to answer Umbridge's question. "Just nod or shake your head, dear," Umbridge urged desperately.

Finally, Marietta shook her head. I couldn't help but smile as I peered in Kingsley's direction. His eyes met mine and he winked.

"What do you mean by shaking your head, dear?" Umbridge stammered with a testy tone.

"I would have thought it was quite clear," McGonagall said from behind Dumbledore's desk. "There have been no secret meetings fro the past six months. Is that correct, Miss Edgecombe?"

She nodded.

"But there was a meeting tonight!" Umbridge said with fury. "There was a meeting, Miss Edgecombe, you told me about it! You said Potter was the leader, and he organized it—_why are you shaking your head, girl?"_

"That usually means no," McGonagall continued.

Umbridge seized Marietta, pulling her close, and began to shake her violently as if hoping to shake some sense into the girl. Kingsley and I both lunged forward, but Dumbledore had stood and pointed his wand. Before Kingsley or I could grab Umbridge off of Marietta, she pulled her hands back and shook them as if she had been burned.

"I cannot allow you to manhandle my students, Dolores," Dumbledore said angrily as he moved around the desk to stand next to Marietta.

"You want to calm yourself, Madame Umbridge," Kingsley said in his slow, deep voice. "You don't want to get yourself into trouble now."

Thank Merlin, Kingsley was so political correct and good at his job. I would have beaten Umbridge to a pulp if I had gotten to her first.

"I—I forgot myself," Umbridge sighed as she stepped back.

"Dolores," Fudge said dryly. He appeared indifferent to her treatment to poor Marietta, who was standing exactly where Umbridge had grabbed her, looking blank and indifferent to what was happening. Kingsley had most certainly cast a spell on her, otherwise she would have been frazzled by Umbridge shaking her. "The meeting tonight, that we definitely know happened…"

Umbridge nodded as she pulled herself together. "Oh, yes…of course. I proceeded to the seventh floor after Miss Edgecombe tipped me off, with certain trustworthy students. It appears that the members of the meeting were somehow forewarned, when we arrived, there was no one left in the Room of Requirement. But, I sent Miss Parkinson into the room for evidence, and she provided me with this," Umbridge drew a piece of paper from her pocket. It was a list of names of students, under the title "Dumbledore's Army."

I frowned and looked at the ground with disappointment. Surely, Harry and Hermione hadn't been stupid enough to keep a list of the members of their group?

"Very good!" Fudge said as he took the paper from Umbridge. "Well, well, by thunder! See what they've called themselves? Dumbledore's Army!"

Dumbledore took the piece of parchment from Fudge and studied it, then he looked up with a broad smile on his thin aging lips.

"Well, the game is up," he said simply. "Would you like a written confession from me, or will a statement in front of these witnesses do?"

"Statement?" Fudge questioned daftly. "What—I don't—"

"Dumbledore's Army, Cornelius," said Dumbledore as he waved the paper in the air. He was still smiling with glee. "Not Potter's Army. Dumbledore's Army."

Understanding sprang across Fudge's face. He took a horrified step back and pointed his finger at Dumbledore. "You?" he whispered.

"That's right," Dumbledore had a pleasant tone about him.

"You organized this?"

"I did," Dumbledore beamed.

"You recruited these students for your—your army?"

"Tonight was supposed to be our first meeting. I can see that inviting Miss Edgecombe was a mistake."

"Then you have been plotting against me!" shouted Fudge.

"That's right," Dumbledore was still cheerfully in his demeanor.

"NO!" shouted Harry suddenly. I looked directly at Harry with warning eyes, as did Kingsley and McGonagall, but he didn't seem to care. "No—Professor Dumbledore!"

"Be quiet, Harry, or I'm afraid you'll have to leave my office," Dumbledore said calmly.

"Yes, shut up, Potter!" Fudge yelled. He was too blinded with his delight at catching Dumbledore to realize that it was all a ruse. "I came here expecting to expel Potter, but instead—"

"Instead you're arresting me," Dumbledore said, smiling.

"You will be escorted back to the Ministry, where you will be formally charged and then sent to Azkaban to await trail!"

"Ah," said Dumbledore gently, but still with a smile. "I thought we might hit that little snag."

"Snag? What snag?" Fudge said.

"Well, I'm afraid I do," Dumbledore said with sincere sympathy.

"Oh really?"

"Well, it's just that you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to—what is the phrase?"

"Come quietly," I muttered.

"Yes!" Dumbledore pointed at me. "Come quietly. I am afraid I'm not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no desire to go to Azkaban. I could break out of course—but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I could be doing."

Fudge was speechless, he turned to look at Kingsley and the other Auror. Kingsley didn't move, but the other Auror, who had not spoken once since I entered the office, moved forward towards Dumbledore.

"Don't be silly, Dawlish," Dumbledore said quickly. "I'm sure you're an excellent Auror, but if you attempt to—er—'bring me in' by force, I will have to hurt you."

I couldn't help but laugh, which seemed mildly inappropriate, but the entire situation was funny. Dawlish blinked in puzzlement at Dumbledore and looked to Fudge for instructions.

"So," sneered Fudge, who seemed to have recovered from his speechless shock. "You plan to take on Dawlish, Shacklebolt, Dolores and myself single-handed, Dumbledore?" When he said 'single-handed' his eyes wandered to me for a brief moment, as if he were unsure if I would stand by Dumbledore. Fudge knew that they really didn't stand a chance if I joined the fight.

"Oh, Merlin's beard, no," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Not unless you are foolish enough to force me to."

"He will not be single-handed!" said McGonagall loudly as she expelled her wand in their direction.

"Oh yes he will, Minerva!" Dumbledore said sharply. "Hogwarts needs you."

"Enough rubbish!" Fudge snapped. "Take him!"

There was a blinded silver streak of light that erupted in the room; the ground shook violently and there a loud bang like a gun shot. I grabbed Harry and pulled him straight down to the floor as another silver flash sparked in the room. Someone cried out, then there was the sound of toppling objects and people. Silence fell shortly after that.

Harry pried at my grip on him, desperately trying to break free of me. I looked up from the ground and saw dust beginning to settle. I released my godson and stood up. McGonagall was standing up with Marietta in hand.

"Are you alright?" Dumbledore asked us.

"Yes," said McGonagall.

"Fine," I nodded.

Dumbledore's office had completely been turned over. The desk and shelves were knocked over and all of his mysterious trinkets were broken, scattered across the floor. Fudge, Umbridge, Kingsley and Dawlish lay motionless on the floor. Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix was circling above the wreckage, singing softly.

"Unfortunately, I had to hex Kingsley too, otherwise it would have looked suspicious," Dumbledore said. "He was remarkably quick at modifying Miss Edgecombe's memory. Thank him for me, will you Minerva?"

McGonagall nodded quickly, she opened her mouth to speak, but Dumbledore continued before she could.

"They will wake up soon and it's best that they have no idea we had time to communicate. You must act as though no time has passed, as if you were knocked to the ground."

"Where will you go? Grimmauld Place?" questioned McGonagall.

"Oh no," Dumbledore replied quickly. "No, I will not go into hiding. Fudge will soon wish he'd never dislodged me from Hogwarts…"

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry began, but his voice trailed off because he did not know what to say.

"Listen to me, Harry," Dumbledore said urgently. "You must continue your studies with Professor Snape. They are very important. Promise me—"

Dawlish was starting to stir on the floor. "Albus, you must go," I hissed quietly.

"Close your mind, Harry," Dumbledore said as he clenched onto Harry's wrist. Harry's eyes overwhelmed with pain, which Dumbledore didn't seem to notice. "You will understand."

He released Harry and reached up to grab onto Fawkes. I went to Harry, who had bent over and was holding his head in pain. I touched his shoulders and he shot up in time to see Dumbledore and Fawkes disappear in a whirl of flames.

"Where is he!?" Fudge yelled as he stood up.

"I don't know!" shouted Kingsley as he jumped up.

"He couldn't have Disapparated!" Umbridge cried.

"The stairs!" Dawlish lunged forward, and the other two followed him out of the office. Fudge stood up from the floor and dusted his cloak off as he looked over to McGonagall and I.

"This is the end of your friend Dumbledore."

"You think so?" McGonagall snipped.

Fudge didn't seem to hear her. He was taking in the destruction around him. He dusted himself off and made to leave. "Better get those two off to bed," he added before exiting.

We stood for a few moments in silence, McGonagall and I stared at each other before looking around the office.

"I'll take Harry," I said. "If Carrigan is still up, I need to have a word with her."

"Alright," McGonagall nodded. "Come along, Miss Edgecombe."

She and Marietta left first. I looked at Harry with concern once we were alone.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," he said roughly.

"I saw how you reacted when Dumbledore touched you, what was that?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing doesn't cause you to keel over in pain," I responded sharply. "I think I know exactly what it was, Harry because like you I have a connection to Voldemort."

Harry's eyes flashed up at me. "I'm not connected to him. He can't control me."

"Do you understand why Snape is giving you Occlumency lessons?"

"Yes," Harry growled as he turned and walked away from me.

"Fine," I snipped. "But Harry, I hope you know what you're doing and what is at stake."

Harry stopped at the base of the stairs. "You don't have to lecture me about what is at stake, Cadence. I understand what is at stake now that Voldemort is back."

"Then make sure you take what is at stake into consideration every time you make the decision not to practice Occlumency," I said rather harshly as I pushed past Harry. He sighed with frustration and caught up to me.

"It's not as easy as it looks."

"I know it's not," I responded sincerely. "I do know that, Harry. I know what it is like to have something inside of you that you can't control."

"I promise, I will do my best," he said very softly.

"Thank you."

"What does this mean for Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"Things are going to get a little bit harder before they get easier Harry," I whispered sadly. "I suggest you keep your head low until the end of term."

"That shouldn't be too hard…there is only two months left," Harry admitted. "He'll come back right?"

"Just remember that Dumbledore is better use to us and the Order out there, not here," I said. "You and Carrigan will be safe, even if he is not here. But you'll have to watch after each other…all of you will."

We had reached the dormitory. Harry said the password and let us in. The common room was empty, except for Hermione, Ron, Carrigan and Benjamin.

"Harry!" Hermione jumped out of her chair. She hugged Harry tightly around the shoulders. "Oh, thank Merlin! I was so worried that you would be expelled!"

"Mom? What are you doing here?" Carrigan questioned. She stood up and came to me, hugging me in greeting.

"I came to speak to Dumbledore about something," I whispered remembering why I had originally traveled out to Hogwarts. Now, all of that seemed unimportant.

"He's gone," Harry said. "He took the fall for the D.A. and ran to escape the Ministry that was going to arrest him."

"What?" Ron stammered. "He can't go…"

"He has," I said. "But I assure you that he will be back."

"What happens now?" Benjamin asked.

"You all go to bed," I said with a smile as I stroked Carrigan's hair. "Keep your heads down, stay out of trouble, study and protect each other."

Benjamin nodded. "Alright." He stood up. "I think we can all manage that."

"Easy for you to say," Ron sighed.

"Good night," Benjamin said with a bow of his head. Before he made his way to the stairs that lead to the boy's dormitory I saw his crystal blue eyes fall on Carrigan. They stared at each other for a few seconds before he turned and moved away.

"If you three don't mind, I need to speak to Carrigan in private."

"Sure," Ron and Harry said. "Night."

"We'll talk about this tomorrow," Hermione nodded. "Good night."

All three of them wandered off in the respective directions. Carrigan stepped away from me and looked at me with a bewildered expression. "What's going on?"

"I came here to speak to Dumbledore about a possible plot Gabriel and I came across," I said carefully. "We think someone may be planning to kidnap you. I did not get a chance to see what Dumbledore thinks of the theory, but I wanted to let you know, especially since when I arrived I ran into Firenze who warned me that a great tragedy is headed my way."

"_What?_" Carrigan questioned. She sank down into an arm chair behind her and looked overwhelmed with worry. "Do you think it's my dream? Do you think Voldemort is going to kill you?"

"No," I whispered honestly as I sat down next to Carrigan. She laid her head on my shoulder and wrapped her arms around me for comfort. I smiled and kissed her forehead. It was nice to hold my little girl again. I brushed my fingers through her hair as I continued to speak. "I think a great tragedy would be you being kidnapped."

"But I know you'd find me," Carrigan said sitting up with a smile.

"Either way, I want you to be careful. And I want you to tell Benjamin that we think someone is after you."

"How did you and Gabriel find this plot?"

"When we were searching for the Death Eater that burned down the brownstone."

Carrigan nodded, but said nothing. We sat quietly for a few moments before I dared to ask her something that might set her off in an angry rage.

"How is training?"

"Fine," she said sitting up to looking me in the face. Her dark blue eyes sparkled with mystery. They reminded me of the clear night sky, with stars twinkling brightly. "I have been getting better. Benjamin thinks I'm finally starting to improve from where I was just before we met. I'm not regressing anymore."

"Excellent," I smiled. "Can you control reading other people's minds better?"

"Yes," Carrigan nodded. "I still pick up stuff accidentally, but not nearly as much as before."

"Good."

"How do you think that power will come in handy?" she asked quietly.

"Well, I imagine it would come in handy like Legilimency does," I replied seriously. "Except, this way people don't know you've entered their minds. Legilimency leaves a trail, if you will."

Carrigan nodded. "I'm still not sure that I want all this power."

I laughed lightly. "I know exactly how you feel."

"Well, I guess I'm starting to understand why you never finished your training."

"There are many reasons why I didn't finish my training, Carrigan," I said seriously. "And most of them have to do with how I was not informed of how powerful I could become. Somewhere, deep inside of me, there is a power more dangerous then anything else. But that power was neglected and forgotten, which is more dangerous then if I had learned to control it. Basically, there is a ticking-time bomb inside of me that could go off at any minute because I never learned how to stop the timer."

"Do you think I have that much power?"

"I think you have more," I replied honestly. "That is why Gabriel, your father, Benjamin and I think it is so important for you to train." Carrigan nodded her head in understanding. "I also think that is why you have to be careful because if anyone else thinks you are that powerful, they _will _come after you."

"Alright," she said. "I will do my best."

"That is all I ask," I smiled and kissed her forehead. I squeezed her tightly in my arms and held her a few more moments. "I love you, Carrigan."

"We're strong girls, Mom," she said looking up at me with a smile.

"The strongest," I beamed. I pinched her cheek. "Alright, get to sleep. I will see you in a few weeks."

"Alright." Carrigan stood up and took my hand, helping me up from the armchair. "Tell Gabriel and Dad I miss them."

"I will, sweetheart. They miss you too."

"Good night, Mom," Carrigan said with one last smile before she made her way from the common room. I watched as she walked away with a warm smile on my face and feeling in my heart. But as soon as she disappeared into her dormitory, a swelling, nervous pain entered my stomach. After everything that had happened that night, there was more work to be done then ever before. I had to get back to headquarters to update everyone on what had happened.


	31. Words and Worry

I was resting quietly on the old, ragged, couch in the library a couple days later, staring out the window while trying to keep a peaceful attitude. The spring scenery outside was captivating to my anxious and wandering mind. Since visiting Hogwarts, and Dumbledore's escape from the Ministry, I had not left Grimmauld Place. I had been too consumed with trying to layout and solve the puzzle that I had drawn out on the chalkboard. The board was now in the library, out of the kitchen, so that I could think over all of it in peace and quiet. Trying to figure out who was the Death Eater that attacked me had become difficult as people clanked their dishes, ate and talked loudly. Sirius kept putting his two-cents in and I was tired of hearing it, mostly because he was making points that I disagreed with and didn't want to hear.

He really did think that I was being paranoid about the news clippings Gabriel and I had found. He seemed sure that the vision Haiden had sent Gabriel was just a distraction. The Death Eater that had attacked me and burned down the brownstone had nothing to do with the two Death Eaters we had killed in their dingy flat. The news clippings, and the two Death Eaters, were just meant to distract Gabriel and I from what we were really looking for. Which, I did have to admit, that if my father wanted to distract me, the easiest way to do that was to suggest that someone was after Carrigan.

But what could my father be hiding? Surely, if he wanted me killed he would kill the Death Eater that failed and send someone else. If that was the Death Eater's true purpose why would Voldemort need to create a distraction that suggested Carrigan's life was in danger.

"You're over thinking it."

I sat up and turned to look at the library door. Sirius stood in the doorframe with a frank, calm expression on his face. His voice was just as calm as his expression as he spoke. "May I come in?"

"It's your library," I shrugged as I sat back on the couch.

Sirius laughed honestly at my comment. "That doesn't mean you wouldn't chuck something at me for entering."

"You're right in that regard."

"So, you think I'm wrong about something else?" Sirius smiled at me as he took a seat on the couch. He folded his arms and leaned back against the cushions as he peered out at the dusty, dark room before him. His eyes went to the chalkboard that was leaning against the bookshelves across from us. My writing and arrows were scribbled across the entire surface of the board. The news clippings I had collected were pinned to it in chronological order.

I didn't say anything to Sirius' remark. He turned his head to look at me. I stared right back at him with my arms crossed tightly over my chest. I had nothing to say to him. Of course, I thought he was wrong.

"I just think you need to step back and start from the beginning again," Sirius said. "Don't think about all of this—" he motioned to the chalk board, "—as one big conspiracy. Just look at it one event at a time. Focus on the Death Eater that you're missing, when you've learned more about him and what he's about, then worry about the other two you and Gabriel knocked off. For all you know they have nothing to do with the first Death Eater. You're trying to make connections where there aren't any."

I frowned deeply as I looked away from his midnight-blue stare. Looking at the board, I saw what he did. He was right. I was creating more chaos by trying to lay everything out. I was making connections where there might not be any. I sighed heavily and leaned forward, putting my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands.

"I'm just scared of losing Carrigan," I whispered. Sirius placed his hand on my back, providing comfort with his gentle touch. "I would never forgive myself if something happened to her and I missed a clue that could have prevented it."

"Of course you're scared of losing her," Sirius replied. "I am too. But you're not missing anything, Cadence. You are a good mother, but this is crazy. Let's not worry about missing Carrigan until she is gone—which I'm sure she won't ever be. You are too protective to even let her out of your grasp for one moment."

"She's out of my grasp now," I said with some bite. "She's at Hogwarts and Dumbledore isn't there anymore to protect her, or Harry. They're both in more danger now."

"There are plenty of members of the Order there to keep an eye over them," Sirius said. "They will be fine. Worrying to the point that you're not functioning normally isn't going to do anyone any good."

"I'm functioning normally."

"When is the last time you kissed Gabriel?" Sirius asked.

"Excuse me?" I looked at Sirius sharply. What was he getting at?

"When was the last time you kissed, or even saw, your husband?"

"I saw him yesterday," I replied.

"No," Sirius shook his head. "You didn't. The last time you saw him was three days ago. He was here yesterday. He came into the library to give you dinner, but you didn't even notice that he was there. You're too consumed with this rubbish to take in your life now."

I frowned and turned away from Sirius, because he was right. A sudden heavy, guilty feeling sunk over me. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and faced the window so I didn't have to look at my ex. Thankfully, there was a knock on the door that pulled Sirius' attention away from me.

"Yea?" Sirius asked as he stood up.

"Hey," Remus said from the doorway. "Harry is downstairs in the fire. He wants to speak to you."

"Harry?" Sirius questioned with concern.

"What's the matter?" I asked turning to Remus.

"I don't know, just said he fancied a chat with Sirius," Remus shrugged.

Sirius charged through the door, moving past Remus quickly. I stood up and followed right after them, afraid that something terrible had happened at Hogwarts. It had to be pretty terrible if Harry was contacting Sirius via the Floo Network. Sirius, Remus and I entered the kitchen hastily and crowded in front of the fire. Harry's face was sitting steadily in the green flames. He didn't look alarmed or stressed.

"Are you alright?" Sirius questioned as he knelt down. "Do you need help?"

"No," said Harry softly. "It's nothing like that…I just wanted to talk about my dad…"

I bit my bottom lip with surprise and released a thankful sigh.

"I'm sorry I worried you," Harry said quickly as he looked at me. "I don't have much time, so I'll get straight to it. Last night, during my lessons with Snape I saw a memory of his from when…well, when you were all in school. I saw you and dad picking on him. You flipped him over in front of a huge crowd of people for no reason!"

I watched as Sirius and Remus looked at each other for a moment. Neither of them said anything, then Remus spoke after a long pause. "I would like you to judge your father on what you saw there, Harry. He was only fifteen—"

"I'm fifteen!" Harry said irritably.

"Look, Harry," Sirius said as he looked sternly at his godson. "James and Snape hated each other from the moment they set eyes on each other in our first year. I think that your father was everything Snape wanted to be—he was popular, he was good at Quidditch, good at pretty much everything. And Snape was just this little oddball who messed around with the Dark Arts and James always hated the Dark Arts."

"Yea," Harry nodded. "But he just attacked Snape for no good reason, just because—well, because you said you were bored." Harry finished with a soft tone of apology towards Sirius. "He was a bully…"

"I'm not proud of it," Sirius said quickly. Remus gave him a sideways look, that suggested otherwise. I fought the urge to make a crack at how Sirius definitely was proud of it.

"Look Harry, what you've got to understand is that your father and Sirius were the best in the school at whatever they did—everyone thought they were the coolest—even if they got carried away sometimes—"

"If we were arrogant little pricks sometimes, you mean," Sirius interjected. Remus smiled.

"He kept messing with his hair," Harry said sadly.

Sirius and Remus both laughed whole-heartedly.

"I forgot he used to do that," Sirius said as he beamed to Harry.

"Was he playing with the Snitch?" Remus asked.

"Yea," Harry nodded. "Well, I thought he was a bit of an idiot."

"Of course he was bit of an idiot!" Sirius said. "We were all idiots! Well, except for Moony."

Remus shook his head. "Did I ever tell you to lay off of Snape? Did I ever have the guts to tell you I though you were out of line?"

"Well, you made us feel ashamed of ourselves sometimes…that's something…" Sirius said with a smile.

"And, he kept looking over at the girls by the lake, hoping they were watching him!" Harry said quickly.

"Well," I smiled softly. "That's because your mother was probably over there by the lake."

"Yea, he always made a fool of himself when Lily was around," Sirius nodded. "But, we all make fools of ourselves around girls we like, Harry." Sirius' eyes glanced at me, but I tried not to notice.

"How come she married him?" Harry asked. "She hated him!"

"Nah, she didn't," Sirius said.

"I would know best," I said wisely. "She didn't hate him."

"They started dating in seventh year," Remus added.

"Once James had deflated his head a bit," Sirius nodded.

"And stopped hexing people just for the fun of it," said Remus.

"Even Snape?" said Harry.

"Well," Remus said slowly. "Snape was a special case. I mean, he never lost an opportunity to curse James, so you couldn't really expect James to take that lying down, could you?"

"And my mum was okay with that?"

"She didn't know too much about it, to tell you the truth," said Sirius.

"Oh, she knew about it," I insisted. "We both did."

"Then why didn't you stop it?" Harry asked.

"Well, it's like Remus said, Snape cursed James every chance he got. Lily and I didn't blame him or Sirius for defending themselves."

Harry nodded in understanding, but still looked grim about the subject. Sirius sighed and leaned forward slightly. "Look Harry," he said. "Your father was my best friend. He was a good person. A lot of people are idiots at the age of fifteen. He grew out of it."

"Yea, okay," Harry acknowledge Sirius' point. "I just never thought I would feel sorry for Snape."

"Now that you mention it," Remus said slowly. "How did Snape react when you saw this memory?"

"He told me he'd never teach me Occlumency again," said Harry with a tone of indifference. "like that's a big disappointment—"

"He WHAT?" shouted Sirius, causing Harry to jump and inhale ash from the fire.

"Are you serious, Harry? He stopped giving you lessons?" Remus questioned before I could.

"Yea," Harry sounded surprised that Sirius and Remus were so concerned. "But it's not a big deal, I don't care—"

"No, Harry," I said quickly to him. "It is a big deal. Remember everything we've talked about? What Dumbledore said to you the night he left? It is very important—"

"I'm coming up there to have a word with Snape!" Sirius snipped. He began to stand up from the kitchen floor, but Remus grabbed his collar and pulled him back to his knees.

"If anyone is going to talk to Snape it will be me or Cadence!" he said firmly. "But Harry, first of all, you're to go back to Snape and tell him that on no account is he to stop giving you lessons—"

"Are you crazy? I can't tell him that," Harry responded with anger. "He'd kill me!"

"Harry, there is nothing more important right now then you learning Occlumency!" Remus retorted. "Do you understand me? Nothing!"

"Okay, okay," Harry said heavily. "I'll trying…but it won't be very easy…"

Harry's voice trailed off and his head turned, as if he were looking over his shoulder. "Is that Kreacher coming downstairs?"

"No," said Sirius, looking over his shoulder. "Must be someone on your end."

"I'd better go!" he said hastily. Without a 'good bye,' Harry's head was gone from the fire with a soft pop! I frowned and sat back on my knees.

"I hope he was wise to use someone's fire that wasn't being watched by the Ministry."

"I'm sure he's fine," said Sirius. "He's not an idiot like James and I were at his age."

"He's idiot enough to contact you via fire when the entire Floo Network at Hogwarts is being watched," I said. Sirius rolled his eyes at me.

"I'm going to write to Dumbledore," he said before standing up from the hard kitchen floor. My knees ached from being on it for so long. "See what he thinks about Snape not giving Harry lessons."

"Perhaps, we should send Gabriel up there to work with Harry."

"It will look too suspicious," Remus shook his head. "Let's just see what Dumbledore says. Maybe Harry can fix the problem on his own…"

"I don't know," I shook my head. "We all can imagine how Snape reacted to what Harry saw."

"More the reason to write to Dumbledore now," Sirius said. He exited the kitchen without another word. I stood up from the floor and stretched, before following Sirius' leave. Remus called after me.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I think I'm going to go to the brownstone and take a look at the remains of my house," I said softly. "Gabriel hasn't had it cleaned up yet…and I'm out of ideas to get any leads on that Death Eater."

"Did Sirius tell you he thinks you're obsessing?"

"He said it more politely, but yes," I said frankly.

"He's worried about you, Cadence."

I looked straight into Remus' brown eyes and gave him a weak smile. "It's funny that everyone keeps telling _me_ not to worry, but really you're all just as worried as I am."

"Well, Sirius will always worry about you," Remus shrugged with a hint at Sirius' love for me.

"I'm not his to worry about anymore," I said very carefully.

Remus bowed his head and I turned on my heel to leave the kitchen. I made my way up to the bedroom to change my clothes into something more suitable for investigating the scene of my destroyed brownstone. I changed into dark blue jeans, a black button up shirt and black combat boots. Before leaving the room, I tied my hair back in a ponytail and pulled on a long black cloak that buttoned from my hips to just below my breast.

When I arrived in the foyer, Sirius came from the sitting room looking satisfied with himself. He took one look at me and paused before the stairs that lead down into the kitchen.

"Send your words to Dumbledore?" I asked.

"Where are you going?" was his response. I sighed and crossed my arms and I looked at him with a hardened expression in my green eyes.

"Out, to look into something," I said slowly. "If you must know."

"Well, you look good."

"Thanks," I muttered awkwardly.

"I did send my words to Dumbledore," Sirius nodded. "Hopefully, they will help."

"We can only hope," I agreed as I head for the front door.

"Hey," Sirius called me back. I paused, my hand on the door handle, to look back at him. "Be careful out there, Cadence."

"I will," I nodded. "Don't worry."

Sirius just smiled at me. He nodded his head and turned away slowly. My heart sank at his actions. He didn't say anything because he was worried, just like Remus said he was. I sighed and pivoted to leave the house. I closed the door to Number Twelve behind me tightly.

Sirius should listen to his own words about worrying, I thought as I stepped down into the square.


	32. Blood Makes Things Unpredictable

Going to the brownstone that evening didn't provide me with any leads. There were no clues hiding in the ashes of my once beautiful home, only debris of a life that Gabriel and I barely got to live. I was going to have to continue my search else where. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure where or what else to look for. How could I find the Death Eater who attacked me if he left nothing behind from the fight? It was impossible to say if anything was missing from the house because he had burnt it down. For all I knew there were all sorts of personal belongings missing, but I would never be able to tell because the remains of my house were in ashes.

The frustration I felt when I left the brownstone that night flourished for weeks. There were no leads anywhere I looked. As a result, I looked more closely at the two Death Eaters Gabriel and I killed—the ones who had news clippings of me and Carrigan in their desk drawers—to see if perhaps they were connected to the Death Eater that had attacked me. I ran-sacked their flat again looking for clues. I investigated their lives with files that Gabriel was able to provide from the Ministry.

Every clue, theory and idea I could think of, I followed up on. I was leaving no stone unturned because Albus Dumbledore had sent me on a mission to find the bastard that burnt down my house. I was starting to think he must be dead. Surely, my father killed him for not killing me as he was instructed. If my father found out that the Death Eater ran from the fight instead of dying trying to kill me, I'm sure my father would have slaughtered him.

As April turned into May, I began to think that there was no hope. I was never going to figure out who attacked me…perhaps I should just give up and let it all lay to rest. The Death Eater hadn't come back to finish the job; and there hadn't been any other attacks on me or Gabriel since January. Five months without a death threat was pretty good for my track recorded. When I told Dumbledore that I planned to stop looking for the Death Eater, he advised me to continue. I felt I had no choice. He wasn't allowing me to aid the Order in any other capacity. This was the only thing he wanted me to do. I started to wonder if he was intentionally keeping me out of the loop, like he had during the first war…

With frustration boiling through me one evening in late May, I marched into the bedroom I was staying in at Number Twelve loudly, not expecting to find Gabriel lying on the bed, half naked with his handsome muscular torso exposed. His hands were behind his head, causing the muscles in his arms to be exposed and flexed. I had just been out for the evening, wandering the dark streets of London hoping to catch a Death Eater red-handed. The only thing left for me to do was hope that I either caught the Death Eater who attacked me by chance on the street, or I found a Death Eater who was willing to talk (perhaps with persuasion) and tell me what they knew about my father's orders for someone to kill me and my daughter.

I stopped dead in the door and stared at him for a moment. The sight of him caused me to catch my breath. He stared back at me with velvety forest green eyes that had an all-knowing sparkle to them. Suddenly, I forgot that I was frustrated over the Death Eater I was hunting. When I looked at Gabriel, everything melted away because it didn't seem to matter. The only thing that mattered was him.

"Hello," he said slowly.

"Hi," I whispered. I turned and closed the bedroom door behind me. When I turned back towards the bed, Gabriel was still lying in it, watching me. His eyes were taking in every inch of my appearance and despite being fully clothed, he made me feel naked.

"Where have you been?"

His voice was smooth, slow and deep. He didn't sound worried or inquisitive, he was simply wondering what I had been up to.

"I went to the brownstone," I replied as I snapped out of the trance he had put me in. I began to unbutton my cloak as I moved to the wardrobe.

"For what? Didn't you go a few weeks ago?"

I shrugged. "Yea, I just needed to look around again. I'm at a loss with this Death Eater thing. I was hoping maybe there was something there that could help."

Gabriel sat up on his elbows to look at me more seriously. I bit my bottom lip as I looked at him. A strong heavy desire was rising up inside of me, starting from my center, and spreading all through my body. Gabriel had the uncanny ability to turn me on just with a glance of his eyes, when he was lying half naked with his muscular body and tattooed arms exposed, I was defenseless. And he seemed to know it. He was smiling at me with charm as I unbuttoned my shirt.

"I owe you an apology," I said as I turned away and threw my shirt in the wardrobe. I took off my bra as I faced away from him and continued to speak as I undid my pants. "I've been a bit of a jerk the last couple of days—"

"Try months," Gabriel sighed. I frowned deeply and glared into the wardrobe. I supposed I deserved that, but really, did he have to be such a bastard? I crossed my arms over my chest and turned to face him with an ugly glare.

"I'm trying to apologize here! I already feel like an ass, you don't need to make me feel worse!" I snapped with aggravation. He knew how hard it was for me to admit I was wrong, why did he have to verbally poke at me while I did it?

He laughed lightly at my frustration and half-nakedness. "I'm sorry, please continue."

I huffed a breath and pivoted to face the wardrobe again.

"I've been so obsessed with figuring everything out on that damned chalkboard, I haven't been a very good wife…"

"I didn't marry you with the expectation you'd be the traditional good-wife," Gabriel replied. I pulled on one of his tee shirts from the wardrobe and turned to him quickly, throwing my mass of brown curls out of my face.

"Are you saying I'm not a good wife?"

Gabriel smiled as he laid back in the bed to allow me to crawl over him to get to the side that I liked to sleep on, against the wall. As I straddled his body, he caught my arms, holding me in place on him. My hips pressed down onto his causing the sexual tension that we had been building to hit it's high point.

"I didn't say anything to suggest that," Gabriel said softly as he pulled on the collar of the tee shirt I was wearing.

He pulled me down to him, so my body was pressed against his and kissed me slowly with tenderness. His arms wrapped around me and his hands ran up and down my back, pushing the tee shirt up and exposing my skin to the cool air of the bedroom. I pulled my lips away from his for a moment, just long enough to sit up straight on him and peel off the tee shirt that I had just put on. Gabriel smiled at me, touched my sides and wrapped his arms around me again as I lowered my body to his, pressing my naked torso and breast against his hard six-pack and chest. He brushed my hair out of my face before kissing me deeply again.

Without warning, he bucked his hips and held me tightly, flipping us over on the bed so that I was underneath his rock hard body. I bit my bottom lip as I smiled up at him with wanting, desire filled eyes. He smiled back at me; a true loving smile that broke my heart. I ran my hands over his head as he closed his eyes, taking in my touch and cherishing it. He leaned forward and kissed me roughly on the mouth, with fire and lustful desire. His hands groped at my body, found my panties and began to drag them off down my legs. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and moaned into his mouth, desperately wanting him—

There was a sharp knock on the bedroom door that broke the mood of desire that had filled the room. Gabriel let out a long, annoyed sigh, and buried his head in the pillow next to my face. I laughed softly at his reaction, and hit his body gently.

"Let me up, I'll get it," I said.

He rolled off of my body, against the wall next to the bed, and stared blankly up at the ceiling. I stood up from the bed and grabbed the tee shirt that he had uselessly thrown off to the side. It was long enough to cover my body. As I moved to the door, there was another sharp knock.

"I know you two aren't sleeping!" Sirius' voice rang through the door.

I turned the knob and snatched the door open sharply, surprising him as he stood before the frame.

"No," I said very slowly as I pushed my hair out of my face. "We were definitely not sleeping."

Sirius frowned deeply as I gave him a very sarcastic smile.

"What's the matter?" I asked because he didn't say anything.

"This just arrived," he extended a letter to me. "I don't know how Carrigan got it past Umbridge's inspection, but you should read it. And Dumbledore is here…perhaps you two should get dressed. Something has happened," He added the last statement with some bite. I gave him a dirty look and turned on my heel, closing the door in his face.

"Dumbledore is here," I said softly to Gabriel. "Sirius made it sound urgent."

He sat up on the bed and sighed. "I heard," he said with a nod. He rubbed his head and the back of his neck. "We need to get our own place again."

"Absolutely," I smiled at him.

"Who is the letter from?"

"Carrigan," I said as I opened the envelop to read the letter. It had already been opened, by Sirius no doubt, as Carrigan had addressed the letter 'To my parents.' I read it over quickly. It was rather brief in it's description.

"The Weasley twins have been expelled," I whispered with a shrug because we already knew that. I was surprised that Carrigan's letter seemed to be very out of date. "Why is her letter so late?"

"Umbridge's inspection slowed it down, no doubt," Gabriel said.

"Carrigan is wondering if one of us can come to Hogwarts."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows and took the letter as I extended it to him.

"What do you think is the matter?"

"Obviously, something she can't put in writing," I frowned deeply. I hadn't told Gabriel about what Firenz had said to me when I went to Hogwarts last. "Do you think we should go right away?"

"What will you say is the reason for your visit?" Gabriel asked. "Umbridge is tightening her grip. I don't know how easy it is going to be to get to Hogwarts now. She will be expecting you because of Carrigan's lack of secrecy. She'll question you and Carrigan…"

I bowed my head in acceptance. "Let's see what Sirius and Dumbledore think."

Gabriel stood up from the bed and made his way to the wardrobe. He threw me a pair of pants, which I graciously pulled on, then together we made our way downstairs.

"What is the matter?" I asked when we entered the kitchen. Gabriel followed behind me, remaining silent as we took seats at the table. Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Moody and Dumbledore were gathered around it. I frowned deeply at seeing so many people. That could only mean one thing: someone had died.

"It's nothing that severe," Dumbledore said calmly. I frowned while brushing my hair over my shoulder with mild embarrassment. He had no doubt read my mind, which prompted his calm comment.

"It's pretty serious, Albus," Moody retorted as his brilliant blue eye blazed around it's socket, taking in every nook and cranny of the room.

"Tell us," Gabriel said.

"Hagrid and McGonagall have been removed form Hogwarts," Dumbledore said with a sad sigh. "The Ministry arrived to arrest Hagrid, but he escaped into the forest. He was able to contact me, but did not say where he is going."

"And McGonagall?" I questioned. "What happened to her?"

"Stunned at once by four different wands," Tonks replied. "She's at St. Mungo's. They're sure she'll be fine, but she's going to need some serious time to recover."

I frowned deeply. "Umbridge is in complete control of Hogwarts then."

"She was when she assumed the position of Headmistress," Dumbledore said. "But that does not mean she is in control. I am told that the students are putting up quite a coup." There was a proud smile on his face as he spoke.

"If we are not in control of Hogwarts, should we be worried that Voldemort will try to take it?" Gabriel asked.

"What could he do with it?" Dumbledore shrugged. "I don't think that is his plan yet. He is still rebuilding his army. He needs strength and power behind him, then he will take the Ministry. Hogwarts will be last."

"What do you propose we do, Albus?" Moody asked.

"What do you plan to do about Carrigan?" Sirius asked me quietly so not to disrupt the conversation that was going on between the others. I looked at him as he sat next to me with raised eyebrows. "The letter she sent…"

"Oh," I shook my head. "Sorry. I'll go see her."

"What will you use as an excuse?"

"Family emergency," I said slowly. Sirius rolled his eyes. "Well, do you have a better idea?"

My question caused him to frown. "No, I suppose not," he finally admitted.

"I'll go see her tomorrow."

Sirius nodded. "What do you think could be wrong?"

"I don't know," I said with a worried tone. Sirius reached over and took my hand in his, squeezing it tightly. I looked to him with surprise. He gave me a reassuring smile that eased my worries, but only for a moment. His smile was not as powerful as it used to be despite the loving intentions in his eyes. My stomach lurched with worry again as his eyes faded. He realized that his touch did not provide comfort as it once had. He released my hand with a soft sigh and turned to face Dumbledore, who was speaking again. I held my breath as I looked at Gabriel sitting next to me. He didn't seem to notice what had just happened between Sirius and I. Or if he did notice, he didn't show it.

I blinked, and suddenly everyone was moving in the kitchen. Tonks, Mad-Eye and Remus were standing up from their chairs. The scrapping noise of the chair legs against the wood floor made me look up to the commotion.

"See you, Cadence," said Remus kissing my cheek. I hadn't moved from my chair. He leaned over on my side to bid his good bye. Sirius got up when Remus kissed me. I watched as he moved away from the table, looking aggravated. Remus seemed to notice his attitude as well. He stood up straight and watched as Sirius marched off to the pantry.

"What's the matter with him?"

"He's upset that I'm married to someone else," I said bitterly.

It was an unfair statement, which I regretted the moment it left my lips, but there was no way of taking it back. I bit my bottom lip and looked away from Remus who was looking at me with high eyebrows over his deep brown eyes. I cringed and looked up at him with apologetic eyes.

"He tried to comfort me by squeezing my hand," I shrugged sadly. "It just didn't work…"

Remus nodded his head slowly. "Well, I've never known what to say to try and help you two fix your relationship."

"I don't need to fix our relationship," I said quickly. "No one does. There is no relationship. We're just friends now…who have a kid together."

"It's complicated, but it is some sort of relationship," Remus smiled with understanding. "That doesn't mean you can't be there for each other. Or that you shouldn't let him be there for you. He can only give so much, Cadence, let him give it."

"For someone who never knows what to say, you just said something that is helping me fix my relationship with Sirius," I said with a small smile. Remus nodded and pinched my cheek.

"I'll see you later," he said. I said a final good bye before he moved away.

Before I knew it, Gabriel, Dumbledore, Sirius and I were the only ones left in the kitchen. I looked around at the three men to take in their expressions. Sirius was obviously put-off, while Dumbledore and Gabriel both seemed calm.

"We received a letter from Carrigan, asking one of us to come see her," I said to Dumbledore before another word was said.

"It must be important," Dumbledore said very slowly. "But why would she send a letter when she can communicate with you telepathically?"

I frowned. I had not thought of that. If Carrigan was truly in desperate need to talk to me or Gabriel she could call for us mentally to get our attention. Before I responded to Dumbledore, I cursed myself silently for not thinking of trying to reach her with Legilimency. I closed my eyes tightly at the table and concentrated all of my energy on Carrigan. My hands gripped the sides of the table, turning my knuckles white with apprehension.

There was no response, though.

I opened my eyes wide and looked at Dumbledore.

"Is there any reason she wouldn't be able to hear me calling her?"

Dumbledore shrugged innocently. "Not that I can think of, but your powers are a bit of a mystery."

I frowned and looked to Gabriel. Perhaps these powers were a mystery to Dumbledore, but they weren't to Gabriel. He looked at me with sad eyes and frowned.

"I don't know, Cadence," he whispered. "How you and Carrigan connect is more then simple mental ability. Where we—" he motioned between the three of us, Dumbledore, Gabriel and myself, "—can communicate mentally through Legilimency with each other, Carrigan also has a telepathic ability that is undocumented. Her powers come from inside of her, not just what she learns from us or school. You are connected to her through blood…and blood makes things unpredictable."

I heaved a sigh and nodded my head in understanding.

"I'll go see her tomorrow, first thing in the morning," I said softly. I looked up at Sirius who looked angry as he leaned against the pantry entrance and stared out at us. He hadn't said a word since he had left the table. He was angry because he felt helpless and useless. Here we all were, talking about his daughter, and he couldn't do anything to help her. He couldn't even go see her.

"I'm going with you," Sirius insisted as he stepped forward, while uncrossing his arms from over his chest.

"What?" I said in disbelief.

"Sirius, I have to protest," Dumbledore said quickly. "Umbridge is closing in tightly on Hogwarts. She suspects Carrigan and Harry are in contact with you already and Malfoy has no doubt informed her, as well as Voldemort, of your Animagus form. It is not wise to go to Hogwarts."

"I have to see her," Sirius said sternly. "She is my daughter and I will not just abandon her when she is asking for help."

"How do you know she sent the letter?" Gabriel questioned with a sharp tongue. "For all you know, Umbridge wrote the letter in an attempt to draw you out—it was delayed, requested help when Carrigan knows how to contact us by other means—"

"It's from her, Gabriel," I said very quietly as I opened the letter. "She signed it 'we're strong girls.' She only says that to me."

"It doesn't matter," Sirius sounded like he wanted to yell. He looked it too. He was red in the face with rage. "Carrigan is my daughter. It's my life to risk anyways—"

"You don't get it!" Gabriel yelled. "It's not just your life, Sirius! If you're caught, the Order could be destroyed! It's all of our lives—Carrigan and Harry could go to Azkaban for being in contact with you, Cadence and I could go for harboring a fugitive!"

"Stop trying to prevent me from seeing the ones I love!" Sirius yelled. Gabriel had hit a nerve in Sirius, making him feel inadequate and closed off. "I've had enough of you, Gabriel!"

"Sirius, the people you love, I love as well," Gabriel said harshly, but more quietly. "And perhaps you should start acting like you love them, instead of acting selfishly."

Gabriel got up and left the room without another word. I raised my eyebrows high and exhaled slowly as the tension in the kitchen settled. Gabriel never walked away from a fight; I could only imagine that he left the kitchen in an attempt to avoid getting into a fistfight with Sirius.

"Sirius, I have to strongly advise you against this," Dumbledore said. "You are right, it is your life and your daughter, but Gabriel is also right. There are other people you are responsible too. Their lives will be directly affected by your decisions as well. Good evening to both of you."

Sirius didn't say anything to Dumbledore as he exited.

"What would you do?" Sirius asked me.

"I would wait to see if she is any real danger," I whispered. "We don't know what this means…they're both right. As are you," I added quickly with a sharp look at him. "But you do have to be careful, Sirius. We all do. I will go tomorrow morning, first thing. If it's serious, I will send for you or come get you myself."

Sirius didn't say anything. He turned away from me and left the kitchen. I sighed loudly before laying my head on the table. Gabriel was wrong when he said blood makes things unpredictable. People make things unpredictable.

_My life would be so much easier if people didn't ruin it_, I thought desperately.


	33. Carrigan's Warning, Voldemort's Joy

When I arrived at Hogwarts the next morning, there was a happy sensation of spring in the air. The weather was beautiful and calm, with clear skies, a gentle breeze and warm temperatures. Despite it being early in the morning, there were already students out on the grounds taking in the morning sunshine as they eat toast on their way to Care For Magical Creatures or Herbology. As I walked up the gravel path towards the castle, I saw Horace, Carrigan's griffin, playing in Hagrid's old pumpkin patch. Most of the pumpkins were green or smashed as Horace galloped around the fenced in patch. With Hagrid gone, I doubted he was being properly taken care of.

To my surprise, as I stared at the griffin in the pumpkin patch, my eyes fell on Carrigan. She was walking from Hagrid's hut to the pumpkin patch while carrying a large bucket. I couldn't help but smile. She looked utterly ridiculous carrying the over-sized bucket, no doubt full of Horace's breakfast, against her small torso. It was the first time in a long time that she looked her age of fourteen. She had celebrated her birthday in April; we hadn't celebrated very much because Carrigan didn't like to. She had never liked birthdays, but she was hoping that Sirius would let her get a tattoo this year…which hadn't happened because she didn't come home for Easter holiday. But, Sirius had decided it was better for her to wait until her next birthday anyways.

She looked young and innocent from across the grounds. She was playfully throwing the dead rats that Horace liked to eat at him and laughed each time he caught one of her ridiculous throws. As I approached however, her innocence seemed to melt away. When I was close enough to hear her voice laugh, I saw the darkness in her midnight blue eyes; it was a darkness that revealed depth only brought on by pain. She didn't look young either; she looked mature and developed. Despite the baggage that I could clearly see her carrying, I couldn't help but smile. She was beautiful. Her brown hair flew around in the gentle spring breeze weightlessly. Her skin was pale and fragile looking, but her defined muscles and rough hands revealed that she was anything but delicate. She was a pillar of strength. Her smile was full of life and for a moment, her eyes were dancing with happiness. She laughed loudly as Horace caught a rat that she launched high into the sky.

"Carrigan," I said softly once I was within earshot. She stopped laughing immediately and turned to me, leaving the bucket of dead rats against the fence.

"Mom!" she said surprised. She beamed and approached me. "What is my middle name?" There was a cautious expression on her face, despite her happiness at seeing me, and the darkness in her eyes returned.

"Arista," I replied. "After a star in the constellation Virgo, in honor of your father who was also named after a star."

Carrigan smiled again. "I'm happy you came," she said moving forward and embracing me tightly. I held her small frame against mine and kissed her forehead.

"I just received your letter yesterday," I said softly. "What's the matter?"

Carrigan pulled back and looked up at me with sad eyes. "I wanted to speak to you about something Benjamin and I overheard."

"Overheard?" I asked.

"Yes," Carrigan nodded. "We were on our back from taking a run on the grounds late a few weeks ago. We had to sneak back into the castle—"

"You were running late at night?"

"Mom," Carrigan sighed. "Ben was with me! We were fine…that's not the point anyways. As we came through the entrance hall, we heard voices in the corridor leading to the dungeons. We overheard Divinity speaking to someone…"

"Who?"

Carrigan looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Honestly, I don't know for sure, but it sounded like she was talking to herself. It was a woman's voice, but it sounded just like her with a different tone."

I frowned deeply. Carrigan had probably overheard Divinity talking to herself, or rather, her other personality, Haiden who was the essence of my niece. "What were they saying to each other?"

"Divinity was talking about being in control," Carrigan said. "That it didn't matter what the other women did, she would remain in control because Voldemort had a plan."

Carrigan's statement confirmed my suspicion that Divinity was in fact talking to herself. I bit my bottom lip with nervousness and nodded my head.

"Anything else?"

"That something was set in motion that she couldn't stop," Carrigan continued. "Whoever Divinity was talking to was trying to stop whatever Voldemort is doing. Divinity said, 'it doesn't matter how hard you try to warn Gabriel, it won't stop Grandfather.'"

"That's why you wanted to speak to one of us," I said with realization. When Divinity dropped Gabriel's name, of course Carrigan would want to warn us.

"Yes," she said quickly. "Has Gabriel gotten any dreams from Haiden, or whoever? Do you think it was her that Divinity was arguing with?"

"Yes, I do," I replied. "He hasn't gotten a dream from her in months. The dream he did receive sent us on that wild goose chase that lead me to believe someone was going to try and kidnap you…that's why I warned you the last time I was here."

"When Dumbledore left," Carrigan nodded. A thought occurred to me as she looked away from my green stare. She frowned deeply and looked at the grass below us. Suddenly she looked back up at me. "What do you think it all means?"

"I don't know," I said with bewilderment. "What I do know, is that you should continue to keep your head down—and going for late night runs is not how you do that. You didn't tell Benjamin what I told you last time, did you?"

Carrigan gave me a guilty shrug and forced smile, like she had innocently forgotten to tell Benjamin that someone was probably going to try and kidnap her or me in the near future. "I'm sorry, I forgot!"

"That's something you should always have on your mind, Carrigan," I responded quickly. "You're in great danger as it is, with what we found from the vision Haiden sent Gabriel and how Firenz warned me that a great tragedy lies in my future—well, you just have to be more careful. And that means not going for late runs! Or doing anything you're not supposed to do."

Carrigan frowned, but nodded. "I understand. When did you speak to Firenz?"

"The last time I was here," I said softly. "Where is Benjamin? I would like to speak to him."

"He's about to start his last N.E.W.T." Carrigan replied. "Come on, we might be able to catch him. The fifth years are getting ready for their last O.W.L. this afternoon. My exams are next week, but I have to get to class too." Carrigan turned to the fenced in pumpkin patch. "Bye, Horace!" she called with a wave. The griffin looked at her with his glowing yellow eyes; there was a sad expression to them. Obviously, he didn't want her to go.

"He's been a little depressed since Hagrid left," Carrigan said. "He likes to have constant company, but I can't be here all the time…obviously."

As we started to walk up the hill towards the castle, Carrigan asked, "What if Umbridge sees that you're here?"

"I'll say there was a family emergency," I replied. "I wanted to inform you that your dear uncle in Maine passed away."

Carrigan smirked. "How long did it take you to think of that?"

"All night actually," I replied. "And I had to fight off your father. He wanted to come see you."

Carrigan frowned at the statement. "He's not very practical, is he?"

"He was worried," I shrugged. "He does have a tendency to act rashly, but we all do when it comes to the ones we love."

"Except Gabriel," Carrigan said slowly. "He is the only person I've seen stay calm and relaxed in situations of high tension…even when you were missing last year and two years ago when you went searching for Pettigrew…he was always clear-headed."

"Yes," I said with a nod and smile. "Gabriel is pretty level-headed in all situations." I remembered how he had reacted last night to Sirius' insistence that he go to Hogwarts. That was not levelheaded behavior. That was a moment that Gabriel showed how much he loved Carrigan and I…how much he feared for our futures…I didn't tell Carrigan that though. She knew how much Gabriel loved her.

Luckily, Benjamin was in the entrance hall when Carrigan and I entered. He was standing outside the Great Hall, where his N.E.W.T was about to start (Carrigan informed me that the last O.W.L. for the fifth years was to take place in the afternoon). The pretty redhead with purple eyes, named Madison, was standing next to him, holding his hand as she talked to a brunette friend in front of her. Benjamin was facing into the conversation, but not participating at all. His crystal blue eyes fell on Carrigan and I instantly. His facial expression didn't change, but I sensed something very familiar about the way Benjamin looked at Carrigan. Gabriel often looked at me that way when I was with Sirius, years ago in our past. The thought of Benjamin being interested in Carrigan made my stomach lurch with discomfort and I remembered what Firenze had predicted when I visited Hogwarts last time—not the great tragedy that awaited in my future, but Carrigan being pregnant and I was meant to protect her child….

"Hi Benjamin," Carrigan said as she reached the trio in the entrance hall. "Madison, Devon, hi," she added with a nod to each girl. "Ben, can I have a word?"

Madison clung to Benjamin's hand as she looked at Carrigan like a bug. I recognized that look all too well…it was the look Sirius always gave Gabriel when we were together; Sirius still gave that look to Gabriel.

"Of course," Benjamin replied as he looked at me. "Maddy, I'll be back in a moment."

"Alright," the redhead sighed with a flutter as she smiled up at him. It was a fake smile; one that reassured her that everything was all right because of the show she was putting on. I tried not to laugh and shake my head.

Carrigan led Benjamin away from the other two girls, towards me as I stood a few feet away.

"Hello, Cadence," Benjamin said with mild concern. "I hope everything is alright?"

"It's not perfect," I replied. "But I'm not here because of anything severe. I finally received Carrigan's letter. She told me about what you two overheard."

Benjamin nodded. He stood taller then me; I wondered if he had gotten taller since the last time I had seen him. He seemed larger, more manly and muscular. He was about to be eighteen, a young man in most societies standards, but in the wizarding world, he was an adult and able to make his own decisions.

"Mom, thinks Divinity was talking to Haiden," Carrigan added quickly.

"She probably was," I said with a nod. "But I have no idea what she was talking about. I'll talk to Gabriel and Dumbledore, see what the Order thinks and we'll go from there. But, I wanted to speak to you, Benjamin."

"About what?"

"Carrigan forgot to tell you that Gabriel and I think there is someone after her," I said.

"As if that's a new thing," Carrigan said casually. I slid her a dirty glare and then looked back at Benjamin who looked concerned. He was taking the warning seriously.

"We don't know the validity of what we found—a collection of news clippings with mine, Gabriel and Carrigan's pictures—but we still want to be cautious."

"Of course," Benjamin nodded. "Alright. We will be careful. I'll be sure to keep a close eye on her." He gave me a reassuring smile as he looked to Carrigan with sincerity.

"I doubt, _Maddy_ will let you," Carrigan said smugly. Her comment didn't phase Benjamin's expression.

"The least you could do is be nice to her," he said smartly. "If that is all Cadence, I must go to my last exam."

"Of course," I said with a nod. "Good luck on your exam."

"Thank you," he bowed his head to me. "Carrigan, seven in McGonagall's office."

"Sure," she said with a scowl.

Benjamin didn't say anything else before he turned and walked away. I watched as he returned to Madison's side and squeezed her arm with affection. I turned my attention to Carrigan who was staring across the entrance hall at the couple with burning eyes.

"Carrigan," I whispered her name. She frowned and looked at me quickly, wiping the somber expression off her face.

"Yea?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yea."

"What's bothering you?"

Carrigan hesitated, but as I stared at her with motherly eyes, she sighed heavily and gave in, which she didn't do often. "I've overheard her thoughts. She's only dating Benjamin to make another guy jealous. She's just using him…"

"You've told him?"

"I tried to," she nodded. "Ginny thinks I probably shouldn't have…but how could I not! At first I didn't know how to, then I just said it one day in training when I was angry at him. He thinks I'm just jealous. We haven't really 'talked' since. We only train…he's mad at me and I don't blame him. I was completely unfair when I tried to tell him. I wanted to hurt him because he was beating me in a fight."

"Gabriel would say you're smart for using his personal feelings against him," I shrugged mildly.

Carrigan frowned. "It didn't work though," she said sadly. "He still kicked my ass." I laughed lightly and patted her shoulder with comfort.

"I'm sure he'll come around," I said seriously. "Maybe you should apologize and try talking to him about it again…or just apologize and mind your business. Benjamin is a big boy. He can take care of himself."

"If you knew someone was using Lily wouldn't you've tried to warn her?" Carrigan asked. "Wouldn't you want to prevent her pain?"

"Of course I would have," I nodded. "But after the first attempt, if it didn't go well then I would mind my business. There are some things that people have to learn on their own, Carrigan."

"He's my best friend," she admitted. "And it's hard right now because he's there, but he isn't really. He's there physically…but he's not there as my best friend. I kind of need my best friend back."

"Then you should apologize," I advised. Carrigan nodded at me in understanding.

"I'll try."

I smiled and kissed her forehead as I pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around my body and returned the embrace. As I clung to my daughter a sudden, and unimaginable, pain shot through my body—straight through my spine and up the back of my neck into the front of my temple. I cried out, released Carrigan and fell to my knees. I felt her holding onto me, trying to prevent my fall, but she couldn't. I hit the ground and felt a chill of overwhelming happiness flood my system. It was all going to plan. Tonight, everything would fall into place and I would be able to celebrate.

The emotions were not my own. As I crumbled on the cold stone floor of the Hogwarts entrance hall, I felt Voldemort's ecstatic emotions running through me. I grabbed my head and cringed viciously, grinding my teeth as my head seared in pain.

"Mom!" Carrigan yelled, but her voice seemed so far away.

"Gabriel," I muttered as the pain overtook my head and my vision started to blur. "Get Gabe…" my voice trembled and I couldn't speak anymore. The happiness was overpowering me; it was so joyous it hurt my entire body. My fingers and toes twitched as the pain spread all the way to the tips of my body.

"Benjamin!" Carrigan screamed over me. "Help!"

She never left my side. As I faded into unconsciousness, I felt her hands on my side, holding me up as my weight forced me to slump towards the ground.


	34. Great Tragedy

When I opened my eyes it was dark. I sat up quickly, surprised to be in Hogwarts' hospital wing, and looked around the dark ward with wide eyes. I rubbed my head and moved to the edge of the bed. The head ache was still throbbing from the back of my neck to the front of my head. I touched my temple gingerly and cringed with pain.

I hadn't had a connection to my father like that in years. I couldn't even remember the last time I had felt his emotions. Why all of a sudden did I feel such joy? What was happening today that would make him happy enough to bring me to my knees?

I jumped out of the bed at the thought of what Carrigan had warned me about. She had overheard Divinity and Haiden fighting—Haiden had been trying to warn Gabriel that something was happening, but Divinity was sure that whatever Voldemort had set into motion could not be stopped. If Voldemort was happy enough for me to pick up his emotions through our blood bond, then I was sure that whatever he had set into motion had taken effect.

I raced forward through the ward, heading straight down between the beds for the door. As I reached it, it swung open and Gabriel marched in.

"Gabriel!"

"I just got word," he said quickly. He took hold of my arms to stop me from moving so he could look at me. He lifted my chin up to look me in the eye, making me feel like a child, like he so often did despite the fact that we were married now. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. What happened? Where is Carrigan?"

"I'm fine," I insisted pulling away from him. "I had a connection to my father."

Gabriel's eyes opened wide. "What? That hasn't happened in years—"

"I know," I responded. "Where is Carrigan? I need to speak to her—"

"I thought she would be with you," Gabriel said. "If she's not here, I don't know where she is. I can't find Benjamin, Harry, Hermione or any of the Weasley's."

"Oh for Merlin's sake," I snapped as I passed him. He turned and followed me out of the ward quickly. "They've gone to stop whatever is going on."

"What?" he asked confused as we started down the stairs.

"Something has happened," I said quickly. "Carrigan wanted one of us to come here because she heard Divinity and Haiden arguing about Voldemort setting something into motion. Haiden was trying to send you a vision to warn you about whatever it was…they must have figured it out and have tried to stop him."

"You're not making much sense," Gabriel said as he followed me.

"You're sure they're not here?"

"Positive," Gabriel nodded. "Let's find Snape, he may know what's going on."

"Snape? You can't be serious."

"He's the only member of the Order still here," Gabriel said taking the lead and guiding me down another staircase. I sighed with aggravation. I knew he was right, I just didn't like it.

We were practically running by the time we reached the dungeon floor. Gabriel came to a halt outside of Snape's office and banged loudly on the door. I held my side, as it pinched, and tried to catch my breath while we waited for Snape to answer. Abruptly, the door was yanked open and Snape looked down at me from his long pale nose.

"What the bloody hell are you two doing here?" Snape questioned sharply, with such a tone you would have thought we were his students that he was scolding bitterly. I glared at him.

"Do you know where Carrigan is?" I asked quickly, ignoring his tone. "And Harry?"

Snape rolled his eyes. "I just spoke to Black and Lupin in the fire," he motioned behind him. "Potter seems to think that the Dark Lord has Black in the Department of Mysteries."

"Damn!" I shouted in frustration. I pivoted and began to race away from Snape's office door. Gabriel and Snape came running after me. Harry had fallen for Voldemort's trick. It was just as Dumbledore predicted—he was always right—Harry didn't close his mind properly. Voldemort realized there was a connection and took advantage of Harry's vulnerability. He sent a vision of Sirius needing to be rescued, hoping that Harry's hero-complex would kick in, which it did.

"Umbridge had Potter and his friends," Snape yelled as we ran down the corridor heading for the entrance hall of the castle. "I'll go back there to see what—"

"They're gone already," Gabriel said quickly. "I went to her office when I first arrived. She isn't here either."

"I know where they are!" I said sharply. "Thanks for your help, Severus. You've done enough."

"What the hell—" Snape yelled at me. I stopped in my tracks and turned to him, grabbing his collar and slamming his body back against the wall of the dungeon corridor.

"You shouldn't have stopped his Occlumency lessons," I raged. "You've put him and my child in danger because of your own damned pride!"

"Cadence," Gabriel said in a soothing voice. He grabbed my arm when I didn't release Snape and pulled me off of him. I glared viciously at the pale, greasy man. He made me sick. He couldn't pick a side. He was for my father and then Dumbledore only when it was too late. He didn't turn spy until Voldemort killed Lily Potter—I knew that was why he changed his mind. He was a coward. He was selfish.

I turned on my heel. I was wasting time blaming Snape.

I dashed forward into the entrance hall and made my way for the great oak doors at the front of the castle. I was going to ring all of their necks when I got a hold of them. Carrigan and Harry for being so stupid to fall for Voldemort's trick—Benjamin for not stopping them—all of them. What did they think they were playing at going off and trying to save someone on their own?

I didn't stop running until I was at the gates of Hogwarts. Once outside of the gates, I turned to see Gabriel right behind me. Before I could Disapparate, he grabbed me, holding me in place and looking at me very seriously.

"Where are you going?"

"To the Ministry," I said instantly. "If I know Harry, he'll have found a way there—Carrigan would have gone with him. They're walking into a trap. If Dumbledore is right about that stupid prophecy that Thrett was so worried about, then only Voldemort or Harry could remove it from the department. There is no freaking way my father is coming out of hiding yet—he needs Harry to get the prophecy."

"Concentrate on Carrigan," Gabriel said with a nod. "Concentrate on her. I bet you can Apparate right to her. I'll go back to Number Twelve and get the others. Please, be careful."

I nodded. "You too."

I stood on my toes and threw my arms around his shoulders as I kissed him deeply with all my love. Without a second thought, I stepped back from him and Disapparated, thinking only of Carrigan. I had never Apparated to a person before, only a physical place. I just imagined Carrigan and I desired being wherever she was. Every part of me ached as my body was pulled apart and rushed through space to reach my destination.

I Apparated into a war zone—a green light came darting at me right when I appeared. I ducked down, crashing to the harsh ground, quickly.

"Mom!" Carrigan shouted in surprise. I was just as surprised that it had worked. Carrigan and I shared a strong bond because of our blood, perhaps we were able to Apparate right to each other, just like we were able to connect to each other with Legilimency and Carrigan's telepathy skills.

Carrigan was a few feet from me. I looked at her with ease, but complete anger. She ran towards me as stone steps over her head exploded and went flying. She dived forward and landed next to me. We were in some kind of meeting room; at the base was a large stone dais with an archway and a curtain hanging form it. The room was designed like an auditorium with stone steps for seats going all the way up to the top of the room which was lined with door ways.

"Are you crazy!?" I shouted at her as spells and explosions erupted around us.

"I'm sorry!" she yelled back. "We thought Dad was in danger!"

I peered over the edge that we were hiding behind and saw other members of the Order in the room fighting against Death Eaters. Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley and Mad-Eye were all there—they must have headed over as soon as they heard from Snape. I sighed with desperation.

"Carrigan," I said quickly as I looked at my daughter, taking her appearance in for the first time. She was mangled; her hair was messed up and face bruised. Her bottom lip was split and there was blood on her white tee shirt. "Who's blood is that?"

"I don't know," she responded. "I killed one of them…" Her voice shook as she replied.

"Where is Benjamin?"

"Carrigan!" screamed Benjamin's voice. The kid had good timing, I had to admit. Within a moment, Benjamin came hurling over the edge of the dais and landed next to us. He pointed his wand at me and grabbed my collar, but when he realized it was me, he released me.

"You both have to get out of here," I said before Benjamin could say a word. "Just go. Run. We'll get the others—"

"Mom, Harry has the prophecy," she said quickly.

"Alright," I said even though I didn't care. I didn't care about the prophecy, I just cared about getting all of the kids home—who knew how many of them had come with Harry. "Carrigan, tell me who is here."

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Ginny, me and Benjamin," she said.

I sighed with disappointment. "Alright. Get out of here. Don't look back, just get out." I grabbed Benjamin's collar. "You don't stop for anything."

He nodded in understanding and moved to my other side, taking Carrigan's hand. He peaked out over the dais and then lead her away quickly, running forward to mount the stairs and climbed the tiered seats out of the room. I watched for a few moments as they headed for an exit. When they were about half way up the stairs, a Death Eater advanced on them, I stood up quickly and shouted a stunning spell with my wand extended from my right hand. The spell zoomed through the air and hit the Death Eater sharply in the side. He didn't even see it coming. He collapsed in and fell to the side, then tumbled down the stairs. Benjamin and Carrigan paused for a moment to look at him. Relief came over Benjamin's face and he bowed his head to me, knowing that it was me who had stopped the Death Eater.

"Cadence!" yelled someone's voice.

I turned just in time for Sirius' body to collide with mine. He knocked me to the floor and a green light flashed in my direction again. I huffed heavily as the air was knocked out of me, then began to rise as Sirius moved off of me. He helped me up before peering over the edge of the dais.

"Nice of you to join us!" he yelled with a bright grin on his face.

"Of course you're enjoying this!" I shouted at him. "Our daughter is in the clutches of death and you're having a ball!"

"Carrigan is fine!" Sirius yelled back, still smiling. "Besides, there is nothing better then saving our daughter—and godson!"

Sirius ran off before I could say another word. I watched as he ran across the sunken floor of the room and intercepted a Death Eater, tackling him and punching him across the face. The Death Eater shoved him off and then they both began to duel, their wands expelling spells of multiple colors. I turned away from Sirius' fight just in time to dodge a stunning spell that was sent my way. I dropped to the floor again and brandished my wand at the attacker, but they were closer then I anticipated and kicked my wand straight out of my hand.

I lunged forward, balling my fist, and slammed the punch into the Death Eater's groin. He whirled cuss words at me and fell backwards, his wand falling from his hand as he grabbed himself in agony. I jumped up, held out my hand to call for my wand, and once it was clenched tightly in my palm, I stunned the bastard.

When I looked up towards where Sirius had run off to, I saw that he was no longer fighting a Death Eater, but talking to Harry on the other side of the room. Some relief entered my system when I saw that Harry was alright, but there wasn't time to be relieved for too long—another Death Eater came at me, yelling the killing curse. I jumped back and dived down, just barely dodging the spell. When I jumped back up, I jabbed my wand in the Death Eater's direction. He went flying backwards across the room's floor and crashed into the lowest level of seats. I was pleased to see that the Death Eater didn't stand back up.

Shouts of wild laughter caught my attention; I stood up straight and looked up at the dais before me. Sirius was dueling Bellatrix LeStrange, his cousin, who had once been imprisoned in Azkaban.

"You can do better then that!" Sirius shouted at her as he dodged a red jet of light from her wand. All other fighting seemed to stop. I looked around frantically, perhaps she was the last Death Eater—but it wasn't true. The others were simply scattering like ants because Albus Dumbledore had entered the room. He had charged down the stairs from the door he entered, zapping spells at the Death Eaters as they tried to run.

I looked back to the dais and advanced, ready to help Sirius fight off his cousin as a burst of green light jetted from her wand and hit Sirius square in the chest. He was still laughing, but his eyes opened wide with surprise and he fell backwards into the curtain of the archway that was at the center of the dais.

My body froze and chilled as I watched Sirius fall back into the archway, but he didn't fall out on the other side. I cried out in shock as I leaned forward, about to jump onto the dais.

"DADDY!" bellowed Carrigan from behind me. I stopped mid-jump and landed back on the floor of the room. I turned to look up at Carrigan who was starting to make her way down the stairs towards the dais. Benjamin caught her and pulled her back, tackling her the ground. I turned back to the dais, half of me hoping Sirius _would_ stand up from the archway, but knowing full well that he _would not_. He was gone. He was dead.

"SIRIUS!" yelled Harry's voice causing me to blink and look in his direction. "SIRIUS!"

Remus nearly tackled Harry and held him back from running after Bellatrix, who had dived off the dais and was racing up the steps towards an exit. I pulled my eyes away from Harry as he fought Remus and screamed. Without a second thought, I tore after Bellatrix—who to my horror, was heading up the stairs right towards Carrigan and Benjamin.

"CARRIGAN!" I screamed as I pelted up the steps behind Bellatrix.

Carrigan held her ground in front of Bellatrix and raised her wand, ready to attack, but Bellatrix was much more experienced with a wand and shouted the killing curse again.

"NO!"

My heart stopped when I saw the spell head for Carrigan, but she raised her hand and the green light split around her. It zoomed by either side of her and jetted on, hitting the stairs behind her. The stairs exploded when the curse made contact and sent Benjamin and Carrigan flying forward. Everyone seemed to stop in complete shock at what Carrigan had done. She had deflected the killing curse with her bare hands.

I didn't waste a moment, I advanced forward ready to snatch Bellatrix, but she hadn't stopped moving either. She ran past Benjamin and Carrigan who were lying uselessly on the floor of the tiered seats. Bellatrix stopped at the top of the stairs, turned with her messy black curls whirling around her in a dramatic fashion, and shouted the killing curse straight at me. I jumped back, to dodge the curse and lost my footing on the steps. I sailed backwards, tumbling down the stairs. My body seized with each sharp impact of the stone steps.

I smacked onto the harsh sunken floor of the room at the foot of the dais. I tried to move, but felt like a heavy stone was squishing my entire body. Every piece of me hurt—my bones, joints….my heart. I forced myself to sit up in time to see Harry and Carrigan running out of the room, one right after the other, chasing after Bellatrix LeStrange.

Before I could get up, I groaned in pain and grasped my side. Hot blood soaked my hand. When I looked down, I saw that my side was split open—cut from the abrasiveness of the steps as I fell.

"Cadence," called Remus as he knelt down next to me. "Try not to move." He pressed his cloak against my side, hoping to slow the bleeding.

"Carrigan went after Bellatrix," I muttered with a dry mouth. "Go—"

I shoved him away from me, hoping he would go after Carrigan and Harry.

"Dumbledore went after them. Dumbledore will get them back, let me help you!" he said in anger. I looked up at him as tears welled up in my eyes.

"Remus," I sighed as I laid my head on his chest and started to cry. He clung to me, holding me tight and whispering that he knew…it would be okay…

"It's not going to be okay," I said roughly, as I pulled away. I started to stand, using Remus to help me up. "Until I know Carrigan is safe."

Remus stood up next to me. "Cadence, you're injured."

"My daughter is in danger!" I shouted loudly.

I moved away from Remus without another word and limped towards the stairs. I mounted them and moved as quickly as my body would allow up them. I clenched my hand over my side, but it didn't stop the aching or the bleeding.

About three-fourths of the way up the stairs, Benjamin's body was lying on a row of seats. I stopped and altered my path to make sure he was okay. His body was lying still, but his chest was rising slowly. I sighed with relief when I touched his throat and felt a pulse. I moved on once I knew he was okay.

The journey through the Department of Mysteries seemed to take forever. I passed through curious and strange rooms, but didn't pay much attention to their contents. I needed to find Bellatrix, Carrigan and Harry. When I emerged from the department, I made my way to the lift and took it up to the first floor of the Ministry. Where else would they have gone? They could be anywhere in the Ministry.

I arrived in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic just in time to see my father, Lord Voldemort, swooping over Bellatrix LeStrange as she cowered on the floor beneath a giant gold statue that appeared to be pinning her to the ground. Voldemort pulled her to her feet as she clung to another body, which was limp in her arms.

"NO!" I screamed loudly as I dashed forward out of the lift. Bellatrix was holding Carrigan's body in her arms. Her brown curls were hanging over her face as she laid across Bellatrix's arm like a rag doll.

Voldemort looked up from where he stood and stared me in the face with his scarlet red eyes. A triumphant smile spread across his thin lips as he wrapped Bellatrix in his arm and Disapparated with a crack that could be barely heard over my screams.

I stopped dead and stared in petrified shock as the atrium rang in silence for a split second, then chaos erupted around me as people flooded from the fires. People were yelling that they saw him—that Voldemort had returned—but the only thing I could think of was Carrigan. The spot where Voldemort had stood holding Bellatrix and Carrigan was empty, and I could only stare at it as the great tragedy sunk in.

They were gone. Sirius and Carrigan were gone.

_Fin._


End file.
